South Africans can now only visit 100 visa-free destinations
· The South African
The South African passport has climbed the ranks but has also lost access to a visa-free destination in February 2026, according to the latest Henley Passport Index, which reveals the newest rankings of all of the world’s passports and visa-free destinations.
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The Henley Passport Index is the original, authoritative ranking of all the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their passport-holders can travel to visa-free.
“With historical data spanning 19 years, the Henley Passport Index is the only one of its kind based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Authority (IATA). The index includes 199 different passports and 227 different travel destinations.” Henley & Partners says.
South African passport moves up one spot on the passport index, but it’s not all good news
And now, according to these rankings, the SA passport has moved up from its previous position at 48 in January 2026, now ranking at number 47 on the list of 199 passports.
The updated index also revealed that South Africans with a passport can now only travel to 100 destinations without requiring a visa. This is down from 101 in January, having now lost visa-free access to the Falkland Islands.
Here is the updated list of all the visa-free, visa-on-arrival, and eTA-required destinations South Africans can travel to, as per the Henley Passport Index:
RegionCountryEntry Type AfricaAngolaVisa-free AfricaBeninVisa-free AfricaBotswanaVisa-free AfricaBurundiVisa-free AfricaCape Verde IslandsVisa-free AfricaComoro IslandsVisa-free AfricaDjiboutiVisa-free AfricaEgyptVisa on arrival AfricaEthiopiaVisa on arrival AfricaeSwatiniVisa-free AfricaGabonVisa-free AfricaGhanaVisa-free AfricaGuinea-BissauVisa on arrival AfricaKenyaVisa-free AfricaLesothoVisa-free AfricaMadagascarVisa on arrival AfricaMalawiVisa-free AfricaMauritiusVisa-free AfricaMozambiqueVisa-free AfricaNamibiaVisa-free AfricaRéunionVisa-free AfricaRwandaVisa-free AfricaSenegalVisa-free AfricaSeychellesETA required AfricaSierra LeoneVisa on arrival AfricaTanzaniaVisa-free AfricaThe GambiaVisa-free AfricaTunisiaVisa-free AfricaZambiaVisa-free AfricaZimbabweVisa-free AmericasArgentinaVisa-free AmericasBelizeVisa-free AmericasBoliviaVisa on arrival AmericasBrazilVisa-free AmericasChileVisa-free AmericasCosta RicaVisa-free AmericasEcuadorVisa-free AmericasEl SalvadorVisa-free AmericasGuatemalaVisa-free AmericasGuyanaVisa-free AmericasHondurasVisa-free AmericasNicaraguaVisa-free AmericasPanamaVisa-free AmericasParaguayVisa-free AmericasPeruVisa-free AmericasUruguayVisa-free AmericasVenezuelaVisa-free AsiaCambodiaVisa on arrival AsiaHong Kong (SAR China)Visa-free AsiaIndonesiaVisa on arrival AsiaKyrgyzstanVisa on arrival AsiaLaosVisa on arrival AsiaMalaysiaVisa-free AsiaMaldivesVisa on arrival AsiaMacao (SAR China)Visa-free AsiaNepalVisa on arrival AsiaPalestinian TerritoryETA required AsiaPhilippinesVisa-free AsiaSingaporeVisa-free AsiaSri LankaETA required AsiaTajikistanVisa on arrival AsiaThailandVisa-free AsiaTimor-LesteVisa on arrival AsiaSouth KoreaETA required CaribbeanAntigua and BarbudaVisa-free CaribbeanBahamasVisa-free CaribbeanBarbadosVisa-free CaribbeanBritish Virgin IslandsVisa-free CaribbeanCayman IslandsVisa-free CaribbeanDominicaVisa-free CaribbeanDominican RepublicVisa-free CaribbeanGrenadaVisa-free CaribbeanHaitiVisa-free CaribbeanJamaicaVisa-free CaribbeanMontserratVisa-free CaribbeanSt. HelenaVisa-free CaribbeanSt. Kitts and NevisETA required CaribbeanSt. LuciaVisa-free CaribbeanSt. Vincent and the GrenadinesVisa-free CaribbeanTrinidad and TobagoVisa-free CaribbeanTurks and CaicosVisa-free EuropeGeorgiaVisa-free EuropeRussian FederationETA required Middle EastArmeniaVisa on arrival Middle EastIranVisa on arrival Middle EastIsraeleta required Middle EastJordanVisa on arrival Middle EastOmanVisa-free Middle EastQatarVisa on arrival Middle EastSaudi ArabiaVisa on arrival OceaniaCook IslandsVisa-free OceaniaFijiVisa-free OceaniaKiribatiVisa-free OceaniaMarshall IslandsVisa on arrival OceaniaMicronesiaVisa-free OceaniaNiueVisa on arrival OceaniaPalau IslandsVisa on arrival OceaniaSamoaVisa on arrival OceaniaTuvaluVisa on arrival OceaniaVanuatuVisa-free