Global rankings show New Zealand's passport is less powerful than last year.

The Henley Passport Index for 2026 ranks New Zealand 24th-equal in the world in terms of destinations passport holders can travel to without a prior visa.

People with New Zealand passports have easy access to 183 countries and territories, compared to 190 last year.

Places in which travellers can get a visa on arrival are included in the calculation.

The ranking puts New Zealand in the sixth tier, on par with nations such as Croatia, Estonia and Poland and in front of the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada.

Last year New Zealand was in 17th-equal place, in the fifth tier with easy access to 190 countries.

Singapore remains the most powerful passport in the world, with access to 192 countries without a prior visa, followed in second-equal place by Japan and South Korea.

Henley said its rankings were based on "exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) - the largest, most accurate travel information database" and enhanced by its own research team.

The top passports were:

192 countries - Singapore

188 - Japan, South Korea

186 - Denmark, Luxembourg, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland

185 - Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy ,Netherlands, Norway

184 - Hungary, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, United Arab Emirates

183 - Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Malta, New Zealand, Poland

182 - Australia, Latvia, Liechtenstein, United Kingdom

181 - Canada, Iceland, Lithuania

180 - Malaysia

179 - United States

The weakest passports belonged to Pakistan, Yemen, Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. Holders of an Afghan passport only have easy access to 24 countries.

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