Ireland’s passports are the world’s strongest this year, according to Nomad Capitalist’s Nomad Passport Index. This is largely due to their visa-free travel options.
Irish citizens can enter 176 nations without a visa, by securing a visa on arrival, or with an electronic travel authorisation. The Nomad Passport Index ranks passports based on visa-free travel opportunities, taxation, passport perceptions, dual citizenship allowance, and personal freedoms.
“Ireland claims the top spot, overtaking Switzerland in an ongoing rivalry between these two neutral nations that have dominated the NPI [Nomad Passport Index] rankings in recent years. A slight boost in Ireland’s mobility score, combined with a fractional dip in Switzerland’s, was enough to tip the balance and reverse the nations’ 2024 positions to one and two,” according to Nomad Capitalist.
Switzerland, 2024’s top-ranked passport, tied for second place with Greece. Greece’s “rising prominence in E.U. migration, investment and tax discussions, along with the expansion and streamlining of its tax incentive programs, has significantly enhanced its appeal among global citizens over the last 12 months,” Nomad Capitalist said.
In 2025, the nine highest-ranked passports were from European nations, followed by the United Arab Emirates and New Zealand. Malta saw one of the largest surges in the rankings due to its tax regime for non-domiciled residents, jumping 9 places to tie with Italy at fifth.
The U.A.E. has declined to 10th place after leading the rankings in 2023, partly due to newly introduced taxes on multinational companies. Previous winners Luxembourg and Sweden have also fallen, with Luxembourg now in 7th position and Sweden in 19th.
Australian passports were tied for 40th place with Canada and Chile, while the United Kingdom’s passports dropped from 14th in 2024 to 21st. United States passports fell one place in the rankings this year, to 45th.
The index’s lowest-ranked passports for 2025 included Eritrea, Yemen, and Afghanistan.
Nomad Capitalist also named Ireland as the easiest European passport to acquire through familial ties last month.
Singapore topped Henley & Partners’ 2025 list of strongest passports, while the U.A.E. led Passport Index’s Global Passport Power Rank. Ireland was tied for third and fourth place in these rankings, respectively.
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