Lifestyle

Another blow for South African passport holders

Luke Fraser

 ·19 May 2025

South African passport holders have fewer choices for visa-free travel than they did at the start of the year, with another metric showing the weakness of the passport.

According to the latest Henley Passport Index, South Africa’s passport is the 50th strongest in the world, allowing visa-free access to 104 countries.

When BusinessTech looked at the list at the start of the year, the passport was the 48th strongest in the world and allowed visa-free access to 106 countries.

Since our last comparison using the Henley and Partners’ Index, South Africa has lost visa-free access to two countries, Pakistan and Mauritania.

The Henley Passport Index is seen as the most authoritative measure of passport power. It evaluates 199 passports against 227 travel destinations using data from the International Air Transport Authority.

The latest figure from Henley and Partners places South Africa between Qatar and Belize in the overall rankings.

The drop in the overall rankings is a blow for South Africa, as its position of 48 at the start of the year was the first time it broke the 50 mark since 2014.

South Africa’s visa-free access to 104 countries is well below that of Singapore, the global leader, whose passport allows for visa-free access to 193 countries.

Notably, South African passport holders will need a visa for the most popular emigration hotspots, with the UK, Australia, USA and Canada all requiring South Africans to have a visa.

Nevertheless, several popular tourist countries, including Thailand, South Korea, Brazil, Argentina, and other popular African destinations like Mauritius, allow South Africans to travel without a visa.

Moreover, Business hubs Singapore, Qatar and Saudi Arabia do not require South African travellers’ visas.

South Africans can also travel to Israel and Russia despite the global condemnation over conflicts involving both nations. 

Another bad ranking

Despite a drop in the rankings, the South African passports rankings in the Henley and Partner’s Index is far better than its position in Nomad Capitalist’s rankings, where it was named the 100th most powerful.

The poor placement from Nomad Capitalist, a tax and immigration consultancy, indicates that South Africans face severly limited visa-free travel, a poor global perception and limited freedoms.

This is becase Nomad Capitalist’s rankings go beyond simple visa-free access and LOOKS at five important aspects of passport strength:

• Visa-Free travel (50%)
• Taxation (20%)
• Global perception (10%)
• Ability to hold dual citizenship (10%) and
• Personal freedom (10%)

South Africa tied with Ecuador in the rankings, with a total score of 68.50. This is far behind top performer Ireland, which scored 109.0.

Despite South Africa’s overall score improving slightly from 67 in 2024 to 68.5 in 2025, it’s overall placement in the rankings did not change.

The 104 countries where South Africans don’t need a visa

Africa

Americas 

Asia

Caribbean

Europe

Middle East 

Oceania 

Note: *visa on arrival; **eTA [electronic travel authorisation])