Lifestyle

South Africa is losing passport power – these are the countries you can travel to visa-free

Staff Writer

 ·6 Jul 2021

Henley & Partners has published its latest passport index, outlining the countries that South Africans can travel to visa-free right now, and how the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted international travel.

The ranking is based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which maintains the world’s largest and most accurate database of travel information.

The data shows that while some progress has been made in resuming international travel, between January to March 2021 international mobility had been restored to just 12% of pre-pandemic levels, and the gulf between theoretical and actual travel access remains significant.

Without taking temporary restrictions into account, Japan retains its hold on the number one spot on the index, with passport holders able to access 193 destinations around the world visa-free.

While the dominance of European passports in the Top Ten has been a given for most of the index’s 16-year history, the pre-eminence of three Asian states — Japan, Singapore, and South Korea — has become the new normal, Henley & Partners said.

Singapore remains in second place, with a visa-free/visa-on-arrival score of 192, and South Korea shares a joint-third place with Germany, each with a score of 191.

However, the data shows that the gap between the top and bottom countries on the index continues to widen.

Dr Christian Kaelin, chairman of Henley & Partners, says the gap in travel freedom is now at its widest since the index began in 2006, with Japanese passport holders able to access 167 more destinations than citizens of Afghanistan, which sits at the bottom of the index with visa-free access to just 26 destinations.

“Increasing isolationism and deglobalisation will have profound consequences, among them further damage to the world’s economy, a significant reduction in global mobility, and restrictions on people’s freedom.”

Comparison: HPI 2021 Q3 visa-free scores with no travel restrictions vs visa-free scores taking Covid-19 travel restrictions into account.

South Africa

The index shows that South Africa has lost three places in the rankings, moving down to 57th position. As of July 2021, South African passport holders are able to access 102 destinations without obtaining a prior visa.

South Africa has dropped four places since the start of the year (53rd) – losing out on one of its few European visa-free markets in Ireland.

While the number of visa-free countries has largely remained around the 100 mark, other passports have continued to grow their rankings by offering more visa-free options, leading South Africa to slip down the rankings.

As with other countries, South Africa also faces ongoing travel restrictions due to the pandemic which drastically limits where people can travel.

In a report published this week, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) said that the world is unlikely to reach pre-Covid-19 international tourist arrival levels until 2023 or later.

The group singled out South Africa in particular due to its heavy reliance on tourism and slow vaccination rate.

As with South Africa’s opening of borders, countries that do allow travel for leisure and tourism purposes do not do so unconditionally and will require travellers to either submit recent negative Covid-19 tests or be subject to a mandatory quarantine period.

Below are the 102 countries South Africans can travel to visa-free according to the latest Henley & Partners report.

* Indicates visa on arrival or eTA.

Africa

Asia 

Europe 

Oceania 

Caribbean 

Americas 

Middle East/Other 

Read: South Africa facing long wait for international travel to reopen