Government

Great news for anyone with a South African passport

Luke Fraser

 ·22 Jul 2025

South Africa has climbed the latest Henley Passport rankings, returning to the list of the top 50 strongest passports in the world for the first time since 2014.

The Henley Passport Index compares the visa-free access of 199 passports to 227 travel destinations.

The index is based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) – the largest, most accurate travel information database – and enhanced by Henley & Partners’ research team.

If no visa is required, a score of 1 is created for that passport. The same applies to those who can obtain a visa on arrival (VOA), a visitor’s permit, or an electronic travel authority (ETA) upon arrival.

If a visa is required or a passport holder must obtain a government-approved electronic visa (e-Visa) before departure, a score of 0 is given. This also applies for pre-departure government approval for a visa on arrival.

Overall, Singapore keeps its crown as the world’s most powerful passport, with visa-free access to 193 destinations.

Asian nations continue to lead the race, with Japan and South Korea tied for second place, at 190 destinations.

Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, and Spain are tied for third, offering visa-free travel to 189 countries.

South Africa has climbed back up the rankings from 53rd in 2024 to 48th in 2025.

Notably, the passport started the year in this position in a periodic review, but quickly dropped out.

South Africa’s return to the top 50 this year is good news, as it is the first time it has breached the top 50 in the official ranking since 2014.

The nation dropped from 41st in 2014 to 53rd in 2015, and only temporarily returned to the top 50 at the start of the year.

The ranking is adjusted periodically as changes to passport dynamics are recorded.

However, it must be noted that South Africa’s climb in the official rankings is due to other countries falling down the list, rather than any significant change to the number of countries local passport holders can access visa-free.

South Africa’s passport can access 103 countries visa-free, having recently lost visa-free access to several notable countries, including Ireland and Nigeria.

Ireland stopped visa-free access over heightened fraud involving South African passports. Nigeria moved to an e-visa system as part of a push to prevent illicit trade between the two countries. 

Despite this, the passport remains relatively strong.

Changes in the system

While South Africa saw no changes in its visa-free entries, it still climbed the rankings.

This is the opposite for Nomad Capitalist’s rankings, where it saw its score climb and its rankings remain the same.

The Nomad Capitalist rankings rated the South African passport as the 100th most powerful passport in the world.

Nomad Capitalist is a tax and immigration consultancy, and its rankings state that South Africans face severely limited visa-free travel, a poor global perception and limited freedoms.

Nomad Capitalists are not solely based on visa-free access and look at five essential 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’s total score may have improved from 67 in 2024 to 68.5 in 2025, but this was still insufficient to push it up the rankings.

South Africa’s score was well below Ireland’s 109.0, with the European nation having the strongest passport in the world.

The 103 countries where South Africans don’t need a visa

Americas 

Asia

Caribbean

Europe

Middle East 

Oceania 

*Visa on Arrival/ETA