Uganda has maintained its gradual improvement on the Henley Passport Index, ranking 72nd globally in the 2026 edition, with its passport offering visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 65 destinations. Kenya retained its position as East Africa’s strongest passport.
The latest rankings, released by Henley & Partners, place Kenya at the top in the region, climbing to 68th globally with access to 70 destinations, up from 68 visa-free destinations in 2025.
Rwanda and Tanzania are tied in 69th position, each offering access to 68 destinations, although their trajectories over the past year differ.
Rwanda emerged as one of the region’s strongest performers after improving from 76th position in 2025, when its passport offered access to 66 destinations. Tanzania, meanwhile, retained its 69th global ranking but saw the number of destinations accessible without obtaining a prior visa decline from 73 to 68.
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Uganda remained in 72nd place, the same position it occupied in 2025, while its passport continues to provide access to 65 destinations.
The country has nevertheless recorded steady progress over recent years, improving from 81st place in 2021 to 76th in 2022. It ranked 78th in 2023 before climbing to 73rd in 2024, and has since maintained a stable position in the global rankings across 2025 and 2026.
The latest index also highlights Uganda’s long-term gains over the past two decades, despite remaining behind Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania in regional comparisons. Uganda’s strongest performance on the index came in 2006 when it ranked 58th globally, while its weakest ranking over the last 20 years was 81st in 2021.
Elsewhere in East Africa, Burundi improved its global position from 92nd in 2025 to 88th this year, although the number of destinations accessible to its passport holders declined from 50 to 48.
The Democratic Republic of Congo also recorded a better global ranking, moving from 94th to 90th despite its visa-free access falling from 46 to 44 destinations. Somalia similarly climbed from 102nd to 99th in the global rankings, even as the number of destinations available to its passport holders declined from 35 to 32.
Across Africa, Seychelles continues to hold the continent’s most powerful passport, ranking 23rd globally with visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 155 destinations. Mauritius follows in 26th place with access to 148 destinations, leaving both island nations well ahead of the rest of the continent.
Globally, Singapore retained the world’s most powerful passport, allowing its citizens visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 192 destinations. Japan, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates are jointly ranked second with access to 188 destinations.
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Henley & Partners said the 2026 edition marks two decades since the passport index was launched and reflects the significant expansion of international mobility over that period.
“The 20th anniversary edition of the Henley Passport Index reveals that the average passport now provides visa-free access to 108 destinations worldwide, up from just 58 when the index was first launched in 2006, demonstrating how dramatically global mobility has expanded over the past two decades,” the firm said.
The report notes that the growth in travel freedom has occurred despite an increasingly unstable global environment marked by rising geopolitical tensions and conflicts.
“As millions of travellers prepare to cross borders for the peak Northern Hemisphere summer holiday season, the July 2026 Henley Passport Index shows that international mobility continues to evolve despite an increasingly complex and conflicted geopolitical landscape,” the report states.
The rankings are compiled using exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), covering 199 passports and 227 travel destinations worldwide.
They measure the number of destinations passport holders can visit without obtaining a visa in advance, making the index one of the world’s most closely watched indicators of global travel freedom.