
Ghana passport ranks 13th in Africa as continental access reaches 71.7%
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16th September 2026 1:14:50 PM
4 mins readBy: Source: Passport Reports

Ghana’s passport ranks 13th among 54 African countries in the current Passport Reports data, while holders can access 71.7 percent of African destinations without obtaining a visa in advance through visa-free entry, visa on arrival or other simplified entry arrangements, or an electronic travel authorisation. The Ghana passport ranking places the passport 123rd globally, with a Mobility Score of 72 and worldwide access of 36.4 percent.
The global access total is made up of 42 visa-free destinations, 26 destinations in the visa-on-arrival or related simplified-entry category, and four destinations available through an eTA. Together these categories produce the Mobility Score of 72. A further 126 destinations are listed as requiring a visa before travel.
The continental result gives Ghana a stronger relative position within Africa than its global rank alone indicates. The same dataset places Ghana 13th among African Union countries, matching its wider African ranking.
Access is strongest in Africa and the Caribbean
Within Africa, Ghanaian passport holders have visa-free access to 25 destinations, access to 10 through visa on arrival or related simplified arrangements, and access to three through eTA. Fifteen African destinations are listed in the visa-required category. The resulting total access rate is 71.7 percent.
The Caribbean records the highest regional access percentage in the report at 81.3 percent, comprising 10 visa-free destinations, two in the visa-on-arrival or simplified-entry category and one eTA destination. Oceania is at 50.0 percent, while the report’s North America grouping is at 47.8 percent. South America stands at 25.0 percent and Asia at 26.0 percent.
At the other end of the regional table, Europe records 0.0 percent access under the visa-free, visa-on-arrival or simplified-entry, and eTA categories, with all 47 destinations listed as visa required. The six Gulf countries are also all in the visa-required category, giving the group a 0.0 percent total access rate. The Middle East is at 11.8 percent, with Lebanon and Jordan in the visa-on-arrival category and the other 15 destinations listed as visa required.
Long-stay and simplified-entry examples
The report also records a number of longer permitted stays among destinations that do not require a visa in advance. Barbados and Dominica are listed with stays of up to 180 days, while Fiji and Vanuatu are listed at 120 days. A broad group of destinations, including the Bahamas, Kenya, Mauritius, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe, are listed with stays of up to 90 days.
Some routes carry additional entry procedures even when they fall outside the visa-required category. Cabo Verde is listed as visa-free with the EASE process, Singapore is listed as visa-free for 30 days with an arrival card, and Seychelles is listed under eTA with tourist registration and a stay of up to 90 days. Several destinations in the visa-on-arrival category, including India, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Gabon, Madagascar and Vietnam, are also marked as having an eVisa option available.
Welcoming and reciprocity data measure the reverse direction
The report keeps outbound passport access separate from the rules applied to foreign travellers entering Ghana. Its Ghana visa requirements framework covers that inbound direction, which is also relevant to the report’s welcoming and reciprocity indicators. Ghana is ranked 120th among 199 countries in the welcoming ranking, a measure of entry ease offered to foreign passport holders.
The reciprocity section identifies differences in both directions without assigning a cause. In one direction, it lists countries including Angola, Algeria, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates whose passport holders can enter Ghana through visa-free, electronic-authorisation or visa-on-arrival arrangements while Ghanaian passport holders are placed in the visa-required category for those destinations. In the other direction, it lists countries including Bangladesh, the Philippines, India, Jordan and Vietnam whose passport holders require a visa for Ghana while Ghanaian passport holders can use visa-free, eTA, visa-on-arrival or related simplified arrangements for travel there.
Historical series shows a shift from 2025
Passport Reports’ historical series shows Ghana’s Mobility Score at 59 in 2020, a year marked in the dataset for the COVID-19 impact, before rising to 62 in 2021 and 72 in 2022. The score reached 75 in 2023 and 2024, then 76 in 2025 before returning to 72 in 2026.
The global rank in the same series was 105th in 2020, 124th in 2021, 128th in 2022, 124th in 2023, 120th in 2024 and 114th in 2025. In 2026 it stands at 123rd. The report does not attribute these year-to-year movements to a specific political, economic or diplomatic cause.
Other contextual rankings in the report place Ghana 42nd among 56 Commonwealth countries, 70th among 132 G77 countries, 45th among 60 countries grouped by English as an official language, 32nd among 57 presidential republics, and 114th among 159 World Trade Organization members. These rankings are separate comparison groups and do not replace the global passport ranking.
Passport Reports ranks passports first by Mobility Score, defined as the total number of destinations accessible visa-free, through visa on arrival or other simplified entry arrangements classified in the same access category, and through eTA, or electronic travel authorisation. When passports have the same Mobility Score, ties are resolved in sequence by the number of visa-free destinations, then the number of eTA destinations, and then the number of visa-on-arrival or related simplified-entry destinations. If all four values are identical, the passports share the same rank.
DISCLAIMER: Independentghana.com will not be liable for any inaccuracies contained in this article. The views expressed in the article are solely those of the author's, and do not reflect those of The Independent Ghana
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