The world’s most powerful passports in 2024; Kenya retains is position; Report

Henley Passport Index ranks the world’s most travel-friendly passportsin the 2024 as Kenya retained its position as the 67th most powerful travel document globally.

The Henley Passport Index, which ranks the world’s most travel-friendly passports, has released its list for 2024, with European nations of France, Germany, Italy and Spain, and Asia’s Japan and Singapore sharing the number one spot.

The Henley Passport Index for 2024, curated by Henley & Partners, was released this week and ranks different passports according to the number of destinations their holders can visit without a prior visa or can avail of a visa on arrival, a visitor’s permit, or an electronic travel authority (ETA) on entering the destination.

The rankings are based on the analysis of data provided by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

It then provides a ‘Visa-free score’ which, essentially, is the number of destinations that the holders of that particular passport can travel to without a prior visa or can avail of a visa on arrival or other similar permits.

For instance, those holding the passports of the countries in the #1 spot had access to 194 visa-free destinations while those holding the Afghanistan passport ranked last at #104, had visa-free access to only 28 of them.

Meanwhile, the Kenyan passport retained its position as the 67th most powerful travel document globally, according to a new report.

Mauritius, which has maintained its top position on the continent, fell one rank down from 30th to 29th passport, showing that holders can visit 148 countries visa-free.

South Africa’s passport also fell two pegs from 51st place globally in July to 53rd.

Lesotho dropped from 64th to 65th, Namibia from 62nd to 65th place and Malawi from 68th to 67th place.

Kenya was also ranked the most open country globally together with Burundi, Cape Verde Islands, Comoro Islands, Djibouti, Maldives, Mozambique and Rwanda among others who scored 198 out of a total openness score of 198.

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As per the latest rankings, Finland, Sweden and South Korea shared the second rank, while Austria, Denmark, Ireland and Netherlands occupied the third spot.

The United States was ranked at number 7 along with Canada and Hungary.

The United Kingdom passport fared better at spot number 4, which it shared with Belgium, Luxembourg, Norway and Portugal. In the Middle East, the UAE ranked the highest at #11.

Israel ranked at #21 while Russia took the 51st spot.