Canada now ranks number 7 in the world in terms of passport power with access to 183 countries according to the 20th anniversary edition of the The Henley Passport Index.
In 2025, Canada ranked as 8th in the world when it came to passport power.
The UK has climbed one place to 6th after securing visa-free access to China and Malawi, while Canada has risen to 7th following similar gains. The United States remains in 10th place and is now one of the few top-ranked passports whose citizens still require a visa to visit China.
Singapore retains its position as the world’s most powerful passport with visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 192 destinations, while the United Arab Emirates is the biggest mover since January, climbing three places to join Japan and South Korea in 2nd place with access to 188 destinations.
The 2026 Rankings
- Singapore
- UAE, Japan and South Korea
- Sweden
- France, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway and Spain
- Austria, Greece, Malta, Portugal and Switzerland
- UK, Hungary and Poland
- Canada, Australia, Czechia, Latvia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Slovakia and Slovenia
- Croatia and Estonia
- Lichtenstein and Lithuania
- Iceland and USA
The Henley Passport Index reveals that the average passport now provides visa-free access to 108 destinations worldwide. Up from just 58 when the index was first launched in 2006; demonstrating how dramatically global mobility has expanded over the past two decades.
Highest Number Of State-based Conflicts Since WWII
The findings stand in stark contrast to the latest Global Peace Index, which also marks its 20th edition and paints its bleakest picture yet. According to the Institute for Economics & Peace, the world is experiencing the highest number of state-based conflicts since the Second World War, with global peacefulness declining for the 12th consecutive year. Today, 119 of the 163 countries measured are less peaceful than they were in 2008, while 103 countries have been involved in an external conflict during the past five years. Almost double the number recorded when the index began.
The Exceptions
The most revealing findings, however, emerge from the exceptions.
Countries whose passports significantly outperform what their peace rankings alone would predict include Israel (159th on GPI, 18th on HPI), the United States (134th on GPI, 10th on HPI), France (99th on GPI, 4th on HPI), Ukraine (160th on GPI, 31st on HPI), the UAE (73rd on GPI, 2nd on HPI), South Korea (57th on GPI, 2nd on HPI), Brazil (124th on GPI, 16th on HPI), Mexico (139th on GPI, 22nd on HPI), and Russia (163rd on GPI, 47th on HPI).
Their positions demonstrate that while peace provides the foundation for international mobility, diplomacy, geopolitical influence, economic strength, and regional integration can all have an even greater impact.
America and Israel are the clearest statistical outliers. Despite the USA sitting in the bottom fifth of the GPI rankings and Israel among the five least peaceful nations in the world, both continue to enjoy exceptionally powerful passports. Their positions reflect decades of accumulated diplomatic capital, geopolitical influence, economic importance, and international confidence in the integrity of their institutions and travel documents. At a time when tensions with Iran and instability across the Middle East once again dominate headlines, their mobility strength illustrates that passport power is shaped by far more than peacefulness alone.
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