The Macao SAR passport is the 32nd most powerful in the world, allowing its users to travel to 141 countries and regions visa-free. That’s according to the Henley Passport Index’s latest 2026 global ranking, which assigns visa-free scores to 199 travel documents.
When compared to 2025, Macao’s current listing represents a drop of one place. However, the ranking fails to accurately reflect the latest visa requirements for SAR passport holders.
Data from the Identification Services Bureau indicates that as of the end of 2025, Macao’s passport granted visa-free access to 146 countries and territories, including Jamaica, which lifted its visa requirements for SAR passport holders last July.
Although Macao failed to lift its ranking in 2026, its current listing is only 2 places shy from its all-time high position of 30th place in 2014. By contrast, the city registered its worst performance in 2010, when it earned a spot in 44th place.
Globally, the top spot went to the Singaporean passport, which has now held the title for three consecutive years, granting its holders visa-free access to 192 destinations. This was followed by Japan and South Korea, which were tied for second place, with a visa-free score of 188 locations.
Tied for third place were Denmark, Luxembourg, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland, whose passports permit visa-free travel to 186 destinations.
Meanwhile, Austria, Belgium, Finland and France were among the 10 countries that earned a visa-free score of 185, putting them in fourth place.
[See more: Turning the page: Where can your Macao passport take you?]
As for fifth-place holders, they included Hungary, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and the UAE, which each earned a visa-free score of 184.
Of particular note is the UAE, which experienced a breakneck rise of 57 spots in just 20 years.
Describing the UAE’s performance as one “without parallel,” Christian H. Kaelin, the creator of the Henley Passport Index, said that “it demonstrates how long-term vision, political stability, and proactive diplomacy can directly translate into tangible mobility benefits for citizens, and increasing soft power for the country.”
Regionally, Hong Kong rose from 18th place in 2025 to 15th place in 2026, with its passport currently permitting visa-free travel to 171 places. This figure, however, is inconsistent with the government’s latest data, which shows visa-free access to 174 places.
Mainland China experienced a more modest rise of one place, with its score of 81 destinations bagging it a ranking in 59th place.
Since 2006, Henley & Partners has been publishing its passport index on a regular basis. The firm calculates its index’s visa-free score by using information from the International Air Transport Authority (IATA) that is combined with research and online data.
