S'pore passport still in first place in latest global rankings

Singaporeans continue to hold the world's most powerful passport, with visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 193 destinations out of 227 globally, according to the latest Henley Passport Index released on July 22.

- Vihanya Rakshika

The Republic retained its first-place ranking despite a slight dip from 195 destinations in the January 2025 edition of the index.

Singapore lost visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to Pakistan and West African country Mauritania after both switched from visa-on-arrival to e-visa systems.

E-visas, unlike visa-on-arrival arrangements, require travellers to obtain approval before departure and are not counted as visa-free access in the index.

This reduced Singapore's tally by two points, but it retained its lead, as other top-ranked passports were similarly affected.

In second place are Japan and South Korea, with access to 190 destinations. Seven European Union countries - Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Spain - share third place with access to 189 destinations.