U.S. Passport Suffers Historic Drop in 2025 Ranking

For the first time in two decades, the US passport has fallen out of the group of the world’s ten most powerful passports, according to the latest Henley Passport Index 2025, published on Tuesday.

The American document dropped from 7th to 12th place among 227 destinations evaluated.

The index, prepared by the international firm Henley & Partners, measures international travel freedom based on the number of countries citizens can enter without a prior visa.

As reported by Univisión, this year marks a significant milestone in global mobility.

US drops from 7th to 12th in the Henley Passport Index 2025

In the 2025 edition, the US passport allows visa-free access to 180 countries.

This is not enough to keep it within the top ten.

This marks the first drop of its kind since the index was created 20 years ago.

According to the report, declining diplomatic influence and the erosion of reciprocity agreements have progressively weakened the advantages once offered by the US passport over the past decade.

Countries with the most powerful passports in the world

The Henley Passport Index uses official data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and analyzes 199 passports worldwide.

Its methodology awards one point for each country or territory that does not require a prior visa — whether through exemption or visa-on-arrival access.

In 2025, the world’s most powerful passports are:

Singapore – 193 countries
South Korea – 190 countries
Japan – 189 countries
Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain, and Switzerland – 188 countries
Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, and the Netherlands – 187 countries
Greece, Hungary, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, and Sweden – 186 countries
Australia, Czech Republic, Malta, and Poland – 185 countries
Croatia, Estonia, Slovakia, Slovenia, the UAE, and the United Kingdom – 184 countries
Canada – 183 countries
Latvia and Liechtenstein – 182 countries
Iceland and Lithuania – 181 countries
Malaysia and the United States – 180 countries

In contrast to the US passport 2025 decline, countries like China have shown consistent improvement, climbing from 94th to 64th place in the past decade — gaining visa-free access to 37 additional destinations.

Why did the United States fall in the ranking?

The Henley report links the US passport’s decline to foreign policy decisions and the loss of diplomatic reciprocity.

Among the factors that reduced its score:

• The end of visa-free entry to Brazil for US citizens as of April.
• Exclusion from China’s visa waiver lists.
• Changes in entry requirements in Papua New Guinea and Myanmar.
• Vietnam’s decision not to include the US in its expanded visa-exemption program.
• Introduction of a new eVisa system in Somalia, ending visa-free access for Americans.

According to the index, these adjustments have had a cumulative impact, signaling a broader loss of US global influence and a shift in the balance of international power.

Christian H. Kaelin, the creator of the index, noted in the report that these seemingly minor changes have had “disproportionate consequences,” underscoring the competitiveness of global mobility dynamics.

The document concludes that the US passport’s decline symbolizes a transition toward a more multipolar world — one where emerging powers expand their influence through bilateral agreements while Washington faces growing diplomatic restrictions.

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