Nigeria’s passport has fallen to 181st out of 196 countries in the latest IziVisa Passport Ranking Index, a sharp slide that shows how limited visa-free travel is for Nigerian passport holders.
According to data published on IziVisa.com, Nigerians can travel to just 24 countries without a visa. A further 16 countries issue visas on arrival, while 43 offer electronic visas. IziVisa ranks passports by the number of destinations holders can reach without securing a visa in advance, and its index also counts visas on arrival and e-visas as separate categories of access.
The position is a long way below the 90th place Nigeria held in the Henley Passport Index in July 2026. That edition gave Nigerians visa-free access to 44 destinations, putting the country level with the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Turkmenistan. It was a one-place fall from 89th in April, with the score unchanged.
The drop from 44 visa-free destinations to 24 should be read with care. The two indices use different methodologies and coverage, so their rankings are not directly equivalent. Henley, which marked its 20th anniversary with the July edition, assessed 199 passports against 227 destinations using data from the International Air Transport Association.
At the top of the IziVisa table, the United Arab Emirates leads with access to 185 of 198 documented destinations through visa-free entry, visas on arrival or e-visas. Switzerland is second, with 120 destinations visa-free, 26 on arrival and 37 by e-visa. Luxembourg, Malta, Denmark, Spain and Finland also rank prominently.
Among African countries in the July Henley index, Nigeria trailed several peers:
South Africa ranked 49th, with 101 visa-free destinations.
Botswana was 61st, with 81.
Morocco was 67th, with 71.
Kenya was 68th, with 70.
Ghana was 70th, with 67.
IziVisa says the gap between the strongest and weakest passports reflects wide disparities in international freedom of movement
