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South Africa flag

South Africa Passport Ranking – Visa Free Access to 102 Countries

The South Africa passport ranks 53rd globally in 2025, offering visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 102 destinations worldwide. This travel document provides South African citizens with moderate international mobility, particularly for business and tourism purposes across Africa, Southeast Asia, and select countries in Europe and the Americas. While the ranking has fluctuated between 35th and 58th position since 2006, the number of visa-free destinations has steadily increased from 65 to 102, demonstrating improved diplomatic relations and travel agreements. The South African passport remains one of the strongest in Africa, enabling its holders reasonable global travel freedom for work, education, and leisure.

Global Rank
#53
out of 199 countries
Visa Free Access
102
countries worldwide
Mobility Score
58
out of 100 points

Quick Statistics for South Africa passport

68
Visa-Free
28
On Arrival
6
ETA Required
31
E-Visa
93
Visa Required

Source: Skyscanner & Official Government Websites.

Visa Requirements by Country

Complete breakdown of visa requirements for South Africa passport holders

✅ Visa-Free

68 countries

  • Angola flagAngola
  • Antigua and Barbuda flagAntigua and Barbuda
  • Argentina flagArgentina
  • Bahamas flagBahamas
  • Barbados flagBarbados
  • Belize flagBelize
  • Benin flagBenin
  • Botswana flagBotswana
  • Brazil flagBrazil
  • Cayman Islands flagCayman Islands
  • Chile flagChile
  • Cook Islands flagCook Islands
  • Costa Rica flagCosta Rica
  • Dominica flagDominica
  • Dominican Republic flagDominican Republic
  • Ecuador flagEcuador
  • El Salvador flagEl Salvador
  • Falkland Islands flagFalkland Islands
  • Fiji flagFiji
  • Gabon flagGabon
  • The Gambia flagThe Gambia
  • Georgia flagGeorgia
  • Grenada flagGrenada
  • Guatemala flagGuatemala
  • Guyana flagGuyana
  • Haiti flagHaiti
  • Honduras flagHonduras
  • Hong Kong (SAR China) flagHong Kong (SAR China)
  • Jamaica flagJamaica
  • Kenya flagKenya
  • Kosovo flagKosovo
  • Lesotho flagLesotho
  • Macao (SAR China) flagMacao (SAR China)
  • Malawi flagMalawi
  • Malaysia flagMalaysia
  • Mauritius flagMauritius
  • Micronesia flagMicronesia
  • Montserrat flagMontserrat
  • Mozambique flagMozambique
  • Namibia flagNamibia
  • Nicaragua flagNicaragua
  • Oman flagOman
  • Palestinian Territory flagPalestinian Territory
  • Panama flagPanama
  • Paraguay flagParaguay
  • Peru flagPeru
  • Philippines flagPhilippines
  • Reunion flagReunion
  • Senegal flagSenegal
  • Singapore flagSingapore
  • St. Lucia flagSt. Lucia
  • St. Vincent and the Grenadines flagSt. Vincent and the Grenadines
  • eSwatini flageSwatini
  • Tanzania flagTanzania
  • Thailand flagThailand
  • Trinidad and Tobago flagTrinidad and Tobago
  • Tunisia flagTunisia
  • Turks and Caicos Islands flagTurks and Caicos Islands
  • Uruguay flagUruguay
  • Vanuatu flagVanuatu
  • Venezuela flagVenezuela
  • British Virgin Islands flagBritish Virgin Islands
  • Zambia flagZambia
  • Zimbabwe flagZimbabwe
  • Rwanda flagRwanda
  • Ghana flagGhana
  • Kiribati flagKiribati
  • St. Helena flagSt. Helena

🛬 Visa on Arrival

28 countries

  • Madagascar flagMadagascar
  • Armenia flagArmenia
  • Bolivia flagBolivia
  • Burundi flagBurundi
  • Cambodia flagCambodia
  • Cape Verde Islands flagCape Verde Islands
  • Comoro Islands flagComoro Islands
  • Ethiopia flagEthiopia
  • Guinea-Bissau flagGuinea-Bissau
  • Iran flagIran
  • Jordan flagJordan
  • Kyrgyzstan flagKyrgyzstan
  • Laos flagLaos
  • Maldives flagMaldives
  • Marshall Islands flagMarshall Islands
  • Nepal flagNepal
  • Palau Islands flagPalau Islands
  • Samoa flagSamoa
  • Sierra Leone flagSierra Leone
  • Tajikistan flagTajikistan
  • Timor-Leste flagTimor-Leste
  • Tuvalu flagTuvalu
  • Egypt flagEgypt
  • Indonesia flagIndonesia
  • Djibouti flagDjibouti
  • Saudi Arabia flagSaudi Arabia
  • Qatar flagQatar
  • Niue flagNiue

🔐 ETA Required

6 countries

  • Sri Lanka flagSri Lanka
  • South Korea flagSouth Korea
  • Seychelles flagSeychelles
  • Israel flagIsrael
  • St. Kitts and Nevis flagSt. Kitts and Nevis
  • Russian Federation flagRussian Federation

💻 E-Visa

31 countries

  • Pakistan flagPakistan
  • Azerbaijan flagAzerbaijan
  • Bahrain flagBahrain
  • India flagIndia
  • Myanmar flagMyanmar
  • Sao Tome and Principe flagSao Tome and Principe
  • Suriname flagSuriname
  • Türkiye flagTürkiye
  • United Arab Emirates flagUnited Arab Emirates
  • Uzbekistan flagUzbekistan
  • Japan flagJapan
  • Uganda flagUganda
  • Albania flagAlbania
  • Vietnam flagVietnam
  • Guinea flagGuinea
  • Kazakhstan flagKazakhstan
  • Cameroon flagCameroon
  • Equatorial Guinea flagEquatorial Guinea
  • Togo flagTogo
  • Syria flagSyria
  • Cuba flagCuba
  • Bangladesh flagBangladesh
  • Burkina Faso flagBurkina Faso
  • Mauritania flagMauritania
  • Ukraine flagUkraine
  • Congo (Dem. Rep.) flagCongo (Dem. Rep.)
  • Nigeria flagNigeria
  • Somalia flagSomalia
  • Bhutan flagBhutan
  • Cote d'Ivoire flagCote d'Ivoire
  • South Sudan flagSouth Sudan

❌ Visa Required

93 countries

  • Ireland flagIreland
  • Afghanistan flagAfghanistan
  • Algeria flagAlgeria
  • Andorra flagAndorra
  • Anguilla flagAnguilla
  • Aruba flagAruba
  • Austria flagAustria
  • Belarus flagBelarus
  • Belgium flagBelgium
  • Bermuda flagBermuda
  • Bonaire; St. Eustatius and Saba flagBonaire; St. Eustatius and Saba
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina flagBosnia and Herzegovina
  • Brunei flagBrunei
  • Bulgaria flagBulgaria
  • Canada flagCanada
  • Central African Republic flagCentral African Republic
  • Chad flagChad
  • China flagChina
  • Colombia flagColombia
  • Congo (Rep.) flagCongo (Rep.)
  • Croatia flagCroatia
  • Curacao flagCuracao
  • Cyprus flagCyprus
  • Czechia flagCzechia
  • Denmark flagDenmark
  • Eritrea flagEritrea
  • Estonia flagEstonia
  • Faroe Islands flagFaroe Islands
  • Finland flagFinland
  • France flagFrance
  • French Guiana flagFrench Guiana
  • French Polynesia flagFrench Polynesia
  • French West Indies flagFrench West Indies
  • Germany flagGermany
  • Gibraltar flagGibraltar
  • Greece flagGreece
  • Greenland flagGreenland
  • Guam flagGuam
  • Hungary flagHungary
  • Iceland flagIceland
  • Iraq flagIraq
  • Italy flagItaly
  • Latvia flagLatvia
  • Lebanon flagLebanon
  • Liberia flagLiberia
  • Libya flagLibya
  • Liechtenstein flagLiechtenstein
  • Lithuania flagLithuania
  • Luxembourg flagLuxembourg
  • North Macedonia flagNorth Macedonia
  • Mali flagMali
  • Malta flagMalta
  • Mayotte flagMayotte
  • Mexico flagMexico
  • Moldova flagMoldova
  • Monaco flagMonaco
  • Mongolia flagMongolia
  • Montenegro flagMontenegro
  • Morocco flagMorocco
  • Nauru flagNauru
  • Netherlands flagNetherlands
  • New Caledonia flagNew Caledonia
  • New Zealand flagNew Zealand
  • Niger flagNiger
  • North Korea flagNorth Korea
  • Northern Mariana Islands flagNorthern Mariana Islands
  • Norway flagNorway
  • Papua New Guinea flagPapua New Guinea
  • Poland flagPoland
  • Portugal flagPortugal
  • Puerto Rico flagPuerto Rico
  • Romania flagRomania
  • American Samoa flagAmerican Samoa
  • San Marino flagSan Marino
  • Serbia flagSerbia
  • Slovakia flagSlovakia
  • Slovenia flagSlovenia
  • Solomon Islands flagSolomon Islands
  • Spain flagSpain
  • St. Maarten flagSt. Maarten
  • Sudan flagSudan
  • Sweden flagSweden
  • Switzerland flagSwitzerland
  • Taiwan (Chinese Taipei) flagTaiwan (Chinese Taipei)
  • Tonga flagTonga
  • Turkmenistan flagTurkmenistan
  • United Kingdom flagUnited Kingdom
  • United States flagUnited States
  • Vatican City flagVatican City
  • US Virgin Islands flagUS Virgin Islands
  • Yemen flagYemen
  • Australia flagAustralia
  • Kuwait flagKuwait

Historical Ranking Trend

South Africa's passport ranking progression from 2006 to 2025

Trend: Declined by 16 positions from 2006 to 2025

Official South Africa Passport & Travel Resources

Access official government resources for passport services, travel advisories, and visa information:

🔗
Department of Home Affairs - South Africa
🔗
Department of International Relations and Cooperation
🔗
South African High Commission UK
🔗
South African Embassy USA
🔗
eHome Affairs Portal

Compare South Africa Passport with Other Passports

See how South Africa's passport compares with other AFRICA in the same ranking tier:

CountryRankVisa-Free DestinationsMobility ScoreGlobal Score
South Africa flagSouth Africa (You are here)
#5310258/10047/100
Botswana flagBotswana#638368/10068/100

*Mobility score calculated based on visa-free access and global travel freedom.

*Global score reflects overall passport strength considering various factors.

Frequently Asked Questions:

As of 2025, South African passport holders can access 102 destinations without a prior visa. This includes visa-free entry, visa on arrival, and electronic travel authorizations. South Africa ranks 53rd globally on the Henley Passport Index. Popular visa-free destinations include Brazil, Argentina, Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and most Southern African countries.

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Last Updated: November 9, 2025

Source: IATA Travel Centre, Skyscanner & Official Government Websites.