U.S. falls from world’s 10 most powerful passports list for first time ever

The U.S. passport dropped from the world's top 10 most powerful list for the first time in the 20-year history of a key rankings index.

The declining strength of the U.S. passport since its No. 1 spot in 2014 "signals a fundamental shift in global mobility and soft power dynamics," per a statement from Christian Kaelin, chairman of Henley & Partners and creator of the Henley Passport Index that was released this week.

A State Department spokesperson said U.S. officials remained confident of the strength and global reach of the nation's passport and that Americans enjoy visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to hundreds of destinations worldwide due to close partnerships the government maintained with countries around the world.

Singapore tops the Henley ranking list, which uses data from the International Air Transport Association to examine passports' visa-free travel. Singaporeans don't need a visa for 193 of the 227 destinations worldwide.

South Korea is second, with visa-free travel in 190 destinations, and Japan is third (189 visa-free destinations), while Afghanistan ranks last (24 visa-free destinations.)

The U.S., which dropped to 10th in July after sinking to seventh last year, tied with Malaysia at No. 12, with visa-free access to 180 destinations.

The report cites Trump's suspension of visa issuance to travelers from 12 nations in Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, his imposing "heavy restrictions on an additional seven" and threats to ban up to 36 more, among other factors.

The loss of visa-free access to Brazil in April due to a lack of reciprocity, the U.S. being left out of China's expanding visa-free list and Vietnam's decision to exclude the United States from its latest visa-free additions were among other reasons for the slide, according to the report.