As per the Nomad Passport Index 2025, the South African passport ranks as the 100th most powerful passport globally.
This is a position that comes across as less favourable due to the country’s restricted visa-free travel options, negative global perception, and limited personal freedoms.
Picture: Getaway Gallery
As reported by Business Tech, this information comes from Nomad Capitalist, a tax and immigration consultancy.
Different to other passport ranking systems, Nomad Capitalist evaluates passport strength based on five key criteria.
These are visa-free travel (50%), taxation (20%), global perception (10%), personal freedom (10%) and the ability to hold dual citizenship (10%).
These factors are designed to help individuals contemplating a new or additional passport in gaining a clearer understanding of the “true value” of citizenship globally.
According to the Index, dethroning Switzerland from the top spot is Ireland, which currently has the strongest passport in the world.
‘While both countries offer world-class global mobility, Ireland pulls ahead thanks to a slight edge in visa-free, visa-on-arrival and ETA-based travel, combined with fast-track citizenship options,’ stated Nomad Capitalist.
According to the tax and immigration consultancy, Irish citizens enjoy the right to live and work freely across the EU and, uniquely, in the UK.
Furthermore, Ireland claimed the title of the world’s strongest passport for 2025 as a result of its strong international reputation, entrepreneur-friendly tax policies, and the overall flexibility of its passport.
South Africa is ranked 100th, sharing this position with Ecuador, and has a total score of 68.50. This is significantly lower than Ireland’s score of 109.0.
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In terms of visa-free travel, which constitutes 50% of the overall score, South Africans can access 111 countries without a visa, via visa on arrival, or through an ETA.
For the taxation component, which accounts for 20% of the score, Nomad Capitalist utilizes data from its network of tax vendors, news sources, and tax authorities.
Countries that tax citizens regardless of their location receive the lowest score of 10, while those with zero tax are awarded a score of 50. South Africa earned a taxation score of 20, indicating that it allows citizens to relocate to avoid taxes.
South Africa also received a Perception score of 20, meaning that South African citizens experience “intermediate” hostility.
For the Dual Citizenship score calculation (10%), Nomad Capitalist relies on embassy data and its experiences to asses the ability to hold dual citizenship.
South Africa scored a Dual Citizenship score of 50, meaning that South African citizens are almost always allowed to hold other citizenships.
For freedom (10%), the consultancy used data and news reports on military service, government surveillance, press freedom, and other factors to determine the personal freedom of citizens, travellers and expats.
South Africa had a score of 20, meaning that South African citizens have low freedom.
Ultimately, from 2024 to 2025, South Africa’s position on the rankings has not changed. This is despite its overall score improving slightly from 67 in 2024 to 68.5 in 2025.
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