Asia commands top three positions in 2025’s Passport Strength Index

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has once again been ranked at the bottom of the list of the most powerful passports in the world for the second half of 2025.

In the list released by Henley & Partners for July to December 2025, the passport of the Asian country Singapore has once again been declared the most powerful.

The list released on the night of July 22 stated that Singaporean passport holders can travel to 193 countries without a visa.

There are also 2 Asian countries in second place. Japan and South Korea are jointly in second place, whose holders get visa-free access to 190 countries.

Third place was jointly held by 6 countries whose passports have visa-free access to 189 countries. These countries are Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Spain.

Belgium, Austria, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal and Sweden came in fourth place, with passports from these countries offering visa-free access to 188 countries.

Greece, New Zealand and Switzerland tied for fifth place with visa-free access to 187 countries.

The list ranks countries based on ease of travel, and the US passport, once considered the world’s most powerful passport, has climbed to 10th place.

The company said in a statement that the US is close to dropping out of the top 10, the first time in the index’s 20-year history.

Big jump in Passport list

The UAE passport is the fastest-growing passport in the past decade, according to the company.

The passport’s ranking has improved by 34 places over the past decade and is now in 8th place.

Similarly, China’s ranking has also improved by 34 places in 10 years and is now at 60th place.

The world’s weakest passports

Pakistan has been declared the fourth country with the weakest passport.

Overall, the Pakistani passport is ranked 96th along with Somalia and Yemen and allows visa-free entry to 32 countries.

Below Pakistan are Iraq (97), Syria (98) and Afghanistan (99).

Above Pakistan are Nepal and Libya at 95th, Palestine, Eritrea and Bangladesh at 94th, North Korea at 93rd, Sudan at 92nd, Sri Lanka and Iran at 91st.