South Africa’s passport power went up in the past year as Egypt granted us visa-free access. You can now visit 106 destinations visa-free – out of 227 measured by Henley & Partners for its annual passport ranking and Global Mobility Report. 

“SA is currently ranked 53rd with visa-free access to 106 destinations (out of 227) worldwide. It has climbed up the ranking two places since July 2022 when it was ranked 55th with visa-free access to 105 destinations (47% of the world’s destinations). 

The new destination to which the country now has access visa-free is Egypt. “This does not necessarily mean it has gained access to two additional.  Sometimes, a passport drops down (like the US and UK) not because they have lost access but because other passports have gained more visa-free destinations, so it pushes them further down the list,” says Sarah Nicklin, the global head of public relations for Henley & Partners. In 2009, our passports were in 35th spot of the indexed countries based on data from the International Air Transport Association. 

The consultancy focuses on residence and citizen programmes for people who want a number of passports, especially those with passports that offer less mobility.  

“We have access to nearly half the world visa-free, but these destinations account for only 15% of global GDP in terms of economic growth and opportunity,” says Nicklin.  

Read in Daily Maverick:

“Hawks detain fake passport syndicate kingpin in Home Affairs sting”

“These are the world’s most (and least) powerful passports in 2022”

“Road to Nowhere — a day in a Hell Affairs queue”

The chart below shows that South Africans are among the top 10 nations whose people seek a different passport through residency and citizenship investments. What’s interesting is that US and UK citizens ranked higher, as Henley & Partners data show. The company’s research shows the close correlation between passport power and wealth: people in richer countries experience open borders (visa-free access) as a travelling asset much more than those in developing or even middle-income countries (which South Africa is classified as).  

Geopolitical standing is also an important factor. This helps South Africa even though its fragility ranking is going up. 

“For example, more than 80% of visa applications by Iranians were rejected in 2020. In contrast, less than 20% of visa applications by Turkish nationals were rejected, even though the two countries score similarly on the fragility index. Likewise, Cubans’ visa applications were eight times more likely to be rejected than South Africans’, even though South Africa is ranked as more fragile. This indicates that in addition to considerations about fragility, geopolitics may play a role in determining travel freedom for individuals around the world,” Henley & Partners research has shown.  

While passport mobility has grown across the world, sub-Saharan Africa’s has increased most slowly. (Read Nanjala Nyabola’s Travelling While Black for a superb take on African passports and the treatment of African travellers). 

For the list of visa-free (or visa-on-arrival) countries people with South African passports can visit, see here.  

(Spoiler alert: it excludes the US, most of Western Europe and China, but  includes a lot of the lovely Caribbean, many countries on our continent, several surprising destinations in Asia and South America)

The top three passports in the world are from Japan, Singapore and South Korea. DM