July the 25th, 2025 – The Croatian passport has risen through the ranks and reached the world’s top 10 most powerful for the first time in history.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the latest Henley Passport Index has been published, ranking the world’s passports by the number of destinations their holders can travel to without a prior visa. This well known index is based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the largest and most accurate travel database. It is further enriched by research by the Henley & Partners team. The index includes 199 different passports and 227 different travel destinations.
The Croatian passport has found itself among the world’s top 10 for the first time. It ranked in a high ninth place, together with Latvia, Slovakia and neighbouring Slovenia. As noted, this is the first time since the Henley Passport Index has been in existence that the Croatian passport has been ranked among the top 10. The Croatian passport now has access to 183 countries in the world without any need for additional visas and documents. Otherwise, very often several countries share one place because the strength of their passports is equal.
Croatia was the 24th country in the world on this list back in 2016, which shows just how well it has progressed. In the years that followed, Croatia slowly climbed to 18th place. After joining Schengen and the Eurozone, the Croatian passport rose further, reaching a high 11th place. Since 2006, Croatia’s worst position was one year before joining the EU back in 2013, when it ranked at 37th place, only to rise slightly to 26th place the following year.
Singapore continues to hold the top spot on this ranking, with its passport granting access to 193 countries around the world. Japan and South Korea are in joint second place, while Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Spain all share third place.
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