Afghan Passport Ranks Lowest on Henley Index; Singapore Tops List
Afghan citizens can travel without a visa to only 24 countries, including Cambodia, Mozambique, Kenya, Somalia, and Sri Lanka. Following Afghanistan, the passports of Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Pakistan, Somalia, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Palestine rank among the lowest. Pakistan stands three ranks above Afghanistan at 98th place, granting its passport holders visa-free access to 31 countries worldwide. In 2018, passports from Afghanistan and Iraq were jointly recognized as the weakest in the world. In contrast, Singapore’s passport secured the top spot in the 2026 ranking. Citizens of Singapore can travel visa-free to 192 destinations, surpassing Japan, South Korea, Denmark, Luxembourg, Spain, and Sweden. Japan and South Korea share the second position with visa-free access to 188 countries. Following them, Denmark, Luxembourg, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland hold the third place, each granting access to 186 destinations. Ten other European countries jointly occupy the fourth rank. Henley reports that the gap between the most and least powerful passports has significantly widened since 2006. That year, the difference between the US and Afghan passports was 118 destinations, whereas today the gap has increased to 168 destinations. The United Arab Emirates has also seen the greatest growth over the past two decades, gaining visa-free access to 149 new destinations since 2006.
