Ireland has the strongest passport in the world this year, according to Nomad Capitalist's Passport Ranking for 2025.
Ireland claims the top spot, overtaking Switzerland in what Nomad Capitalist says is an "ongoing rivalry" between the two neutral nations that have dominated the rankings in recent years.
Evaluating 199 citizenships, the Nomad Capitalist Passport Index ranks each passport across five key factors: visa-free travel, taxation, global perception, dual citizenship, and personal freedom.
"These criteria reflect the real-world concerns of modern nomads, investors, entrepreneurs, and internationally minded individuals," Nomad Capitalist says.
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 at one and two, Nomad Capitalist noted.
Ireland received a Nomad Passport Score of 109, just edging past Switzerland and Greece, who each had a score of 108.50.
Irish passport. (Getty Images)
"Ireland takes the Nomad Passport Index top spot in 2025, edging out Switzerland as the back-and-forth battle between two of Europe’s neutral states enters its second year," Nomad Capitalist said of Ireland's passport.
"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.
"Irish citizens enjoy the right to live and work freely across the EU and, uniquely, in the UK.
"With its strong international reputation, entrepreneur-friendly tax policies, and the overall flexibility of its passport, Ireland claims the title of the world’s strongest passport for 2025."
Elsewhere on the list, the UK passport tied for 21st place alongside France, Estonia, Croatia, and Romania.
Canada and Australia tied for 40th place alongside Chile, while the US tied for 45th place with San Marino.
Nomad Capitalist says: "In 2025, one message is clear: in today’s uncertain world, holding multiple citizenships is no longer a luxury – it’s a necessity."
The Nomad Capitalist ranking comes less than a year after the Irish passport was ranked as the third-most powerful passport in the world for 2024 on the Henley Passport Index.
In December, Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs said it issued over 1 million passport books and cards in 2024, marking a milestone year for the Passport Service.
In order to get an Irish passport, you must be an Irish citizen.
You are automatically an Irish citizen if one of your parents was an Irish citizen at the time of your birth, and was born on the island of Ireland. You don't need to apply to become an Irish citizen in this case.
If you were born outside of Ireland, you can become an Irish citizen if one of your grandparents was born in Ireland, or one of your parents was an Irish citizen at the time of your birth, even though they were not born in Ireland.
In these cases, you can become an Irish citizen through Foreign Birth Registration.
In February, RTÉ News reported that there were 11,601 Foreign Birth Registrations in the US in 2024, which accounted for 27% of all the Foreign Birth Registrations that year.
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