by Jen Mallia
Last updated: 2:05 PM ET, Thu January 9, 2025
Biggest loser isn’t much to gloat about, but Canada was cited as one of the “top 5 losers” in the Henley Passport Index which ranks passports according to how many countries a passport holder can travel to without a visa. While Canada still made it into the European-dominated Top 10 (tying for seventh place with Malta and Poland,) over the past decade we have slipped three places, thus earning a spot on the biggest loser list.
Using data from IATA, the Henley Passport Index compiles which of 227 destinations require a visa to visit for each of the 199 global passports. The most powerful passport in 2025 is Singapore, with visa-free access available to 195 destinations. Way down at the other end of the list is Afghanistan, whose passport holders only have access to 26 destinations without a visa. That’s a difference of 169 destinations. Canadian passport holders can visit 188 destinations visa-free.
The index, which was released in London on Jan. 8, 2025 crunched the numbers to demonstrate the changes in relative position for passports since 2015. 22 passports fell in the rankings. Venezuela claimed the record, falling 15 places in the rankings, from number 30 to number 45. In second-loser place was the U.S., which fell from second place in 2015 to ninth in 2025. Not-so-honourable mention goes to the U.K., (itself implementing new requirements for visitors) which lost its 2015 first place spot, falling to fifth place this year.
Several countries went the other way, gaining access to more destinations than a decade ago. Chief among them is Kosovo, climbing from 103rd place in 2015 to 63rd place. Other climbers of note are China, moving swiftly from the 94th spot to the 60th, gaining access to 40 destinations. The UAE cracked the top 10 this year, moving from its spot at 42 10 years ago.
This year marked the widest gap between the top and bottom positions in the history of the index. The divide in how easily citizens of some countries can travel compared to those at the bottom of the rankings, particularly in light of natural disasters and political upheaval, prompted Dr. Christian H. Kaelin, Chairman of Henley & Partners and the inventor of the passport index concept, to state “the very notion of citizenship and its birthright lottery needs a fundamental rethink.”
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