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The U.S. passport has fallen from being the world's most powerful travel document over the past two decades, according to a new report.
The latest Henley Passport Index has ranked the U.S. passport as the 10th most powerful in the world in 2026. Twenty years ago in 2006, it was ranked number one.
While Americans can still travel to the vast majority of countries without obtaining a visa in advance, dozens of other nations now offer their citizens even greater travel freedom.
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What Makes a Passport Powerful?
A passport's strength is determined by how many places its holder can enter without first applying for a visa. The more destinations offering visa-free or visa-on-arrival access, the more powerful the passport is considered.
That can make international travel simpler, quicker and less expensive by removing the need for advance visa applications for many trips.
"Twenty years of data show that passport power is one of the clearest expressions of a country's geopolitical capital. It reflects far more than peace or prosperity alone," Dr. Christian H. Kaelin, chairman of Henley & Partners and creator of the Henley Passport Index, said. "The world's strongest passports belong to nations that other countries want as partners — for trade, investment, security, or cooperation. Mobility is ultimately a measure of the value other countries place on their relationship with you."
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US Falls From Top Spot
The latest Henley Passport Index shows the U.S. passport has slipped from first place in 2006 to 10th in 2026, highlighting a gradual decline in its relative travel power.
The index ranks passports according to the number of destinations their holders can visit either visa-free or by obtaining a visa on arrival, making it a measure of how easily citizens can travel internationally.
In 2006, the United States shared the number one position with Denmark and Finland. Twenty years later, it shares 10th place with Iceland.
Although the U.S. is listed in 10th position, the ranking system groups countries with identical scores together. In practice, that means 36 countries are now ranked ahead of the United States.
American passport holders can currently travel to around 179 countries and territories without securing a visa beforehand. That still gives U.S. travelers access to roughly 92 percent of the world's countries. Even so, a growing number of countries now provide their citizens with access to more destinations.
Several countries have removed visa-free travel from U.S. passport holders in recent years. In 2025, a reciprocal agreement ended with Brazil, meaning travelers from both need visas to visit each country. Venezuela ended visa-free travel from the U.S. in 2007. Turkey, Myanmar and Ghana have also changed visa requirements in the last 20 years.
Singapore Leads
Singapore now holds the world's most powerful passport, allowing its citizens visa-free access to 192 destinations worldwide, an increase of 70 destinations compared with 2006, when the country ranked eighth.
The biggest success over the past two decades, however, is the United Arab Emirates passport.
According to Henley's analysis, the UAE has recorded the largest improvement in the history of the index, adding 153 visa-free destinations since 2006. It has climbed from 62nd place to second, a position it now shares with Japan and South Korea, whose citizens can access 188 destinations without obtaining a visa in advance.
Peace and Passport Strength Go Hand in Hand
Henley & Partners also examined how passport strength compares with countries' rankings on the Global Peace Index over the past 20 years.
Its analysis found a strong positive relationship between peacefulness and passport power, suggesting that countries with higher levels of peace generally enjoy stronger travel documents. Singapore, which tops the passport rankings, is also eighth on the Global Peace Index. Japan, Switzerland, Ireland, Austria, Portugal, Finland, Denmark, New Zealand, Canada, Czechia and Malaysia also rank highly on both measures.
Afghanistan, Syria and Yemen are among the world's least peaceful countries and also possess the weakest passports, showing how conflict, instability and fragile state institutions can limit international mobility.
However, the report also draws attention to exceptions where countries perform much better on passport strength than their peace rankings alone would suggest, with the U.S. being one of the clearest examples. Despite ranking 134th on the Global Peace Index, it still holds the world's 10th most powerful passport.
Other countries showing a similar pattern are Israel, France, Ukraine, the UAE, South Korea, Brazil, Mexico and Russia.
According to the analysis, these examples demonstrate that while peacefulness provides an important foundation for international mobility, diplomatic relationships, geopolitical influence, economic strength and regional integration can play an even greater role in determining how widely accepted a country's passport is.
The United States and Israel stand out as the strongest statistical outliers.
Although the U.S. sits in the bottom fifth of the Global Peace Index rankings and Israel ranks among the world's five least peaceful nations, both continue to hold comparatively powerful passports.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: John Fitzpatrick and Tony Phillips
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