[imagesource:gencraftai]

The Henley Passport Index is the original, definitive ranking of all the world’s passports based on the number of visa-free places to which their holders have access.

The index is based on data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the world’s largest and most accurate travel information database, and has been vetted by the research team at Henley & Partners.

The Global Mobility Report 2024 contains expert perspectives on the most recent ranking, and for those South Africans who need to make a quick exit, the list has been updated with 108 countries that will welcome you with open arms and no visa issues – although to be honest, not all of them are what we would call ‘holiday destinations’.

The index includes 199 different passports and 227 different travel destinations, ranking them quarterly in terms of travel power. Each passport was scored on the total number of destinations that the holder can access visa-free.

Some of the countries on this list may be surprising, but as can be expected, most are similar in ‘status’ to South Africa (in other words not the destination of choice for those seeking uninterrupted electricity and water or political accountability).

It’s interesting to note that SA was ranked 37th in 2006 – Pre-Zuma years.

France, Germany, Italy and Spain passports came out on top with a visa-free score of 194, followed by the Netherlands with 192. Afghanistan were the losers once more with only 28 countries happy to host them without a visa.

You can find the complete list for South Africa here.

There are quite a few surprisingly perfect holiday destinations open to Saffas that appear on the list, such as Argentina, Bahamas, Cambodia, Egypt, Hong Kong, Ireland, Peru, and South Korea. 

Equally, there are a few places we would rather avoid at the moment, such as Russia, Ecuador, Sierra Leone, and Israel.

As bad as we often make the ‘Groen Mamba’ out to be at times, your SA passport does still carry a bit of weight in several countries, some of which are absolute gems. Something to keep in mind for December 2024.

[source:henleyglobal]