Ten Years of Passport Rankings: Who's Up, Who's Down, and Why It Matters

Quick Summary: Over the past decade, passports that have risen fastest are those whose countries secured Schengen visa-free agreements or conducted intensive bilateral negotiations—the UAE, Ukraine, Georgia, Colombia, Peru, and recently China. Those that have fallen are the United States and United Kingdom (due to reciprocal visas from other nations and others climbing faster), plus investment passports penalized for loose issuance like Vanuatu. According to QuocTich.com data updated 09/2026, the UAE ranks first with 168 visa-free destinations.

People often assume passport strength follows economic power. The past decade shows the opposite: passports rise through deliberate diplomacy and fall through policy—either the country's own or retaliatory measures from others.

This matters for anyone considering a second passport. You are not buying a number on today's ranking; you are buying a citizenship whose travel value will continue changing over the next ten to twenty years. This article looks back at who has climbed, who has fallen, and why.

Today's Rankings: Where Does Everyone Stand?

Before looking back, here is the current position of passports mentioned in this article, according to the site's passport ranking. The site counts visa-free, visa-on-arrival, and ETA destinations and ranks them "consecutively"—multiple countries with the same score share the same rank, and the next rank does not skip.

According to QuocTich.com data, updated 09/2026.

Because counting methods and ranking approaches differ, rankings on the site do not match Henley or Passport Index exactly. We have explained the differences in an article Henley and Passport Index: Two Counting Methods, Two Numbers. Comparing over time should therefore follow the direction on the same ranking, not mix numbers from different rankings.

Who's Up: The Common Path Is a Schengen Agreement

If one gate has changed rankings most, it is the Schengen area. A visa-free agreement with the EU opens roughly thirty destinations at once, plus adds a halo effect: other countries trust passports approved by the EU more.

All six share a common point: their governments treated visa-free access as a policy goal, accepting reforms in biometric passports, border management, and repatriation cooperation. None was simply handed this right.

UAE: From Mid-Table to the Top

The UAE's story is the decade's standout. According to Henley & Partners reports from the mid-2010s, the UAE passport was mid-ranked; after the Schengen agreement in 2015, the country signed continuously with Asia, Africa, Latin America, and entered the top group. On the site's current ranking, the UAE stands first with 168 visa-free destinations.

The lesson from the UAE is not "wealth equals strength"—other Gulf states are just as wealthy but rank much lower. The difference lies in UAE turning visa-free travel into a multi-year diplomatic campaign. A detailed list is on UAE Passport: Which Countries Offer Visa-Free Access.

China and Vietnam: Rising Slowly, Through Bilateral Agreements

China has noticeably climbed in recent years through bilateral visa-waiver agreements with Southeast Asia—Singapore from 02/2024, Thailand from 03/2024, then Malaysia. Even so, on the site's ranking, the Chinese passport is only rank 48 with 83 destinations, because the largest gate—Schengen—remains closed.

The Vietnamese passport follows a similar path but slower. Data from Henley reports tracked by the site shows the rank fluctuates while destinations remain nearly flat:

Rank ups and downs of a few positions are mainly because other countries change, not because Vietnam opens many new doors. The 01/2026 period even has a counterintuitive detail: the rank rose even though Bolivia left the visa-free list. Full analysis is on Vietnam Passport Ranking.

Who's Down: The United States, United Kingdom, and the Reciprocity Problem

In the mid-2010s, the UK and Germany often topped rankings. A decade later, the UK passport ranks 6 on the site, and the U.S. ranks 9. According to Henley & Partners, in October 2025 the U.S. passport fell from the top 10 for the first time since the ranking began.

These two passports have not lost many destinations. They fell in rank for two reasons:

1. Others are climbing faster. When the UAE, South Korea, Singapore, and European countries plus more add destinations each year, standing still is also falling.
2. Reciprocity. Many countries impose visas on U.S. citizens because the U.S. imposes visas on them. Brazil re-imposed visas on U.S., Canadian, and Australian citizens starting 04/2025 is the recent example. Countries not visa-exempt to the U.S. have little reason to exempt Americans unilaterally.

For perspective: the strongest passport by numbers may not be the most useful. Someone living long-term in the U.S. needs a green card more than a high-ranking passport.

Investment Passports Losing Value: Vanuatu, Dominica

This is the section people buying a second passport must read carefully. Over the past decade, some passports issued through investment have lost gates—not because the country weakened, but because major powers grew skeptical of the issuance process.

• Vanuatu: The EU suspended Schengen visa-free access, first for passports issued from 2015 onward, then expanded to all citizens. On the site's ranking, Vanuatu now shares rank 48 with China.
• Dominica and Vanuatu: The UK imposed visas on citizens of both countries starting 07/2023, citing concerns related to the investment citizenship program.
• St. Kitts & Nevis: Canada imposed visas starting 11/2014, citing concerns about passport issuance procedures.

This is why the Caribbean group signed common agreements, raised investment minimums, and tightened due diligence in recent years—keeping Schengen access matters more than selling extra passports. We discuss this risk in ETIAS and the Future Value of Investment Passports.

Risks to Know Before Buying a Passport for Rank

Ranking is a snapshot, not a promise. No visa-waiver agreement is permanent. The EU has a suspension mechanism and has used it.

A large number does not guarantee the gates you need. A passport with 140 visa-free destinations but missing the United States or Canada may be less useful than one with fewer destinations but including the countries you actually visit.

Investment passports carry their own risk. Loose issuance by one country can put the entire group under scrutiny. Ask your advisor which gates that country has lost, why, and what steps it has taken to keep them.

Do not compare numbers across different rankings. Henley, Passport Index, and the site use different counting methods; mixing them to conclude "up or down" is methodologically wrong. The right way to read rankings is in How to Read Passport Rankings Correctly.

Checklist Before Choosing a Second Passport by Travel Strength

• [ ] List the countries your family actually needs to visit over the next ten years.
• [ ] Check each country against the passport you plan to buy, not just the total number.
• [ ] Ask: Does this passport have Schengen visa-free access? UK access? Canadian access? Since what year?
• [ ] Ask: Has this country ever had visas imposed against it, and for what reason?
• [ ] See whether the program is tightening due diligence or loosening prices to attract applications.
• [ ] Track rankings on the same ranking over multiple periods, not across different rankings.

Next Steps

Open the comparison page, place your current passport next to two or three you are considering, and look at specific countries you need rather than the total number. If two choices are close in numbers, choose the country with a more stable track record of keeping its visa-free gates over the past decade.