South Africa has broken into the Top-50 for the most reliable passport in the world for the first time in a decade, improving from 53rd in the world in 2024 to 48th at the beginning of 2025.
The latest Henley Passport Index, which includes an authoritative global ranking on the power of the passports of different countries, shows that the ranking of South Africa’s “green mamba” passport increased by 10% between 2024 and 2025.
A Singapore passport has been ranked as the world’s most powerful in 2025, Japan ranked second for most powerful, while the US passport lost some of its travel power, according to data from migration advisory firm Henley & Partners.
The Henley Passport Index compares the visa-free access of 199 different passports to 227 travel destinations. If no visa is required, then a score with value = 1 is created for that passport. The same applies if you can obtain a visa on arrival (VOA), a visitor’s permit, or an electronic travel authority (ETA) when entering the destination.
Where a visa is required, or where a passport holder has to obtain a government-approved electronic visa (e-Visa) before departure, a score with value = 0 is assigned. This also applies if you need pre-departure government approval for a visa on arrival.
South Africa placed 48 out of 199 countries with a visa-free score of 106, meaning there are 106 countries across the world that a South African passport holder can travel to visa-free.
South Africa has introduced a number of reforms to its strict visa regime that include the temporary concession for certain visa and waiver applications for students, skilled workers, and tourists; the remote work visitor visa; and the new points-based system for work visas, in a bid to attract skills and investment while growing the tourism sector.
This week, the Department of Home Affairs announced the selection of 65 participants in its Trusted Tour Operator Scheme from India and China, to accelerate the visa applications process and boost tourism from the world’s most populated countries.
This and other reforms have seen some countries implementing visa reciprocity by granting or extending visa-free status to South African passport holders to promote trade and tourism.
Last month, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that prospective travellers from Nigeria can now apply for their visas without submitting their passports, but only certified copies, along with their applications as part of the visa reforms to enable economic activities and boost tourism between the two biggest economies in Africa.
Dr Leon Schreiber, the Minister of Home Affairs, today welcomed the Henley Passport Index
Schreiber said the relative improvement in the strength of the South African
passport was only the beginning as it coincided with the reform process that is underway at Home Affairs, which is built around the digital transformation of all Home Affairs processes. “By fully digitalising and closing off to fraud and manipulation the process to obtain enabling documents – including passports – we will significantly enhance the integrity of our documents,” Schreiber said.
“The latest Henley Passport Index also emphasises the global shift towards digitalising visa processes, a critical component of our reforms. Additionally, the targets proposed by Home Affairs for inclusion in the Medium-Term Development Plan (MTDP) that will guide the work of the seventh administration, includes the introduction of biometric or “e-Passports,” that feature an embedded microprocessor chip to authenticate the biometric information of all South African travellers.
“Our plans to introduce an e-Passport and to digitally secure both document and passport processes for South Africans as well as visa processes for foreigners, will combine to meaningfully increase the power of our passport over the coming years.”
BUSINESS REPORT