German passport falls to 4th-most powerful in Henley Index 2026

The annual Henley & Partners Passport Index has named the German passport the fourth-best for visa-free travel in the world in 2026, after it claimed the top spot in 2024 and third spot in 2025.

The Henley Passport Index 2026

Every January, law firm Henley & Partners puts together an international passport index, which the firm claims to be the “original and most authoritative” ranking of its kind.

In 2026, the company ranked 199 passports by how useful they are for international travel, which is determined by whether they grant users visa-free access to 227 different travel destinations.

Passports are awarded one point for every country holders can travel to without requiring a visa, or if the traveller can obtain a visa, a visitor's permit, or an electronic travel authority (ETA) upon arriving at their destination.

No points are awarded for places where the holder needs a pre-arranged visa - one that cannot be claimed at airports, other ports of entry or border checkpoints - or where each entrant requires a pre-departure authorisation from the government.

While the annual index is published in January, it is also updated quarterly. In its first instalment of the 2026 ranking, Henley & Partners named the Singaporean passport the most powerful in the world for visa-free travel, followed by the Japanese and South Korean passports in joint second place. 

According to the index, Singaporean nationals can currently travel to 192 countries without a visa. Japanese and South Korean citizens can travel to 188 countries visa-free.

How powerful is the German passport?

Henley & Partners named the German passport the fourth-most powerful in the world in 2026, with German citizens able to travel to 185 countries without applying for a pre-departure visa.

Countries that German citizens cannot travel to without a pre-departure visa include multiple African countries (e.g. Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon and Egypt), Canada, Australia, India and the United Kingdom.

While Germany is naturalising more long-term residents than ever - 50 percent more people became German citizens in 2024 compared to 2022 thanks to Germany’s recent dual citizenship law change - the passport is actually becoming less powerful.

When the Henley & Partners ranking was first conducted in 2006, it considered the German passport second-most powerful in the world. Typically moving between first, second and third place, it dropped to fifth place for one year in 2010, meaning the 2026 ranking sees the German passport in its worst position for 16 years.

Best passports for visa-free travel in 2026

In all, here are the best passports for visa-free travel in 2026, according to Henley & Partners:

1. Singapore
2. Japan, South Korea
3. Denmark, Luxembourg, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland
4. Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway
5. Hungary, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, United Arab Emirates

For more information, and to see how other passports ranked, check out the full ranking.