German passport ranked world’s third most powerful in Henley Passport Index
By Simone Jacobs
The latest Henley Passport Index has been released and the German passport has been named the third-strongest passport in the world, allowing citizens to access 189 countries without a visa.
The Henley Passport Index 2025
Law firm Henley & Partners compiles the Henley Passport Index annually, naming the countries with the strongest passports in the world. The ranking is based on data from 199 different passports and 227 different travel destinations.
Based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Authority (IATA), the index awards different passports one point for every country their holders can access without needing to apply for a visa, and any place where entry is possible with a visa on arrival, an easily accessible visitors permit or an electronic travel authority (ETA). On the other hand, for each country where a pre-arranged visa or pre-departure government approval is needed, no points are awarded.
In the latest version of the ranking, released in July 2025, the Singaporean passport was named the most powerful in the world for visa-free travel, followed by the Japanese and South Korean passports in joint second place. Singaporean nationals can currently travel to 193 countries without a visa, while Japanese and South Korean citizens can travel to 190.
German passport remains third-most powerful in the world
At the beginning of the year, the German passport fell from first place to third. The version of the Henley Passport Index released in July 2025 saw Germany ranked as having the third strongest passport in the world, maintaining its position from January 2025.
German passport holders can travel to 189 countries visa-free, sharing the position with Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy and Spain. Since the ranking was started in 2006, the strength of the German passport - at least according to Henley & Partners - has jumped around between third, second and third place. This is with one exception, when the passport dropped down to fifth-best for visa-free travel in 2011.
Strongest passports in the world for 2025
As of July 2025, these are the countries with the most powerful passports in the world according to Henley & Partners:
- Singapore (193)
- Japan, South Korea (190)
- Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain (189)
- Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden (188)
- Greece, New Zealand, Switzerland (187)
- United Kingdom (186)
- Australia, Czechia, Hungary, Malta, Poland (185)
- Canada, Estonia, United Arab Emirates (184)
- Croatia, Latvia, Slovakia, Slovenia (183)
- Iceland, Lithuania, United States (182)
For more information and to see the full ranking, take a look at the Henley Passport Index.
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Editor for the Netherlands at IamExpat Media. Simone studied Genetics and Zoology at the University of Pretoria in South Africa before moving to the Netherlands, where she has been working as a writer and editor since 2022. One thing she loves more than creating content is consuming it, mainly by reading books by the dozen. Other than being a book dragon, she is also a nature lover and enjoys hiking and animal training. Read more