Nigeria’s passport has slipped one place to 90th in the latest Henley Passport Index, highlighting the country’s continued struggle to improve the global mobility of its citizens despite maintaining the same level of visa-free access.
The July 2026 edition of the Henley Passport Index ranked the Nigerian passport 90th out of 199 passports assessed worldwide. Nigerian passport holders can currently travel to just 44 destinations without obtaining a visa before departure.
The latest ranking marks a one-position decline from the 89th place Nigeria occupied in April 2026. However, the country’s visa-free score remains unchanged at 44 destinations.
Released to mark the 20th anniversary of the Passport Index, the report evaluates passports using International Air Transport Association data and measures the number of destinations travellers can enter without obtaining a visa in advance.
Nigeria now shares the 90th position with the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Turkmenistan, each offering visa-free access to 44 destinations.
The latest report places Nigeria among the world’s weakest passports, underscoring the travel restrictions many Nigerians continue to face across major international destinations.
Within Africa, South Africa retained the continent’s strongest passport, ranking 49th globally with visa-free access to 101 destinations. Botswana followed in 61st place with access to 81 destinations, while Morocco ranked 67th with 71 destinations.
Kenya placed 68th globally with access to 70 destinations, while Ghana occupied the 70th position with visa-free travel to 67 countries.
On the global stage, Singapore maintained its position as the world’s most powerful passport, granting its citizens visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 192 destinations. Japan ranked second with access to 188 destinations, while South Korea, Sweden and the United Arab Emirates shared third place with 187 destinations.
The United States ranked 10th globally, with its passport offering access to 180 destinations without requiring a prior visa.
At the opposite end of the index, Afghanistan remained the weakest passport worldwide, allowing visa-free access to only 22 destinations. Syria ranked 103rd with access to 25 countries, while Iraq placed 102nd with 28.
Although Nigeria slipped in the latest rankings, its long-term trend has been mixed. Between January 2024 and April 2026, the country rose from 95th to 89th despite losing one visa-free destination.
Henley’s earlier reports showed Nigeria lost visa-free access to several African countries, including Zambia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Mauritania and São Tomé and Príncipe. Those losses were partly offset by newly secured visa-free access to several Pacific island destinations.
The Henley Passport Index is updated quarterly and tracks 199 passports across 227 travel destinations, providing one of the world’s most widely referenced measures of passport strength and international mobility.
