Pakistani passport ranked world’s fourth weakest: Report

PTI, Jul 20, 2023, 10:09 AM IST

Islamabad: Pakistan has been ranked as having the fourth weakest passport in the world on an index compiled by a global citizenship and residence advisory company.

Among 227 countries assessed on the index compiled by Henley & Partners, the country stands at the 100th position, which has been determined based on the number of destinations Pakistani residents can visit without needing a visa.

Earlier this year, the nation of over 220 million was listed among the five countries with the lowest-ranked passports by the London-based advisory firm.

Pakistanis had access to 35 countries with an on-arrival visa facility until January this year, which has now come down to 33, Geo News reported.

Singapore leads the index with the most-coveted passport in the world, pushing Japan, which had topped the list for the last five years, to the third position shared with South Korea, Austria, Finland, France, Luxembourg and Sweden, granting their citizens access to 189 destinations without a prior visa, it said.

Singaporeans, on the other hand, can visit at least 193 destinations visa-free around the world out of the total 227.

While Asia has conventionally dominated the rankings in the index, Europe is coming back, with Germany, Italy, and Spain rising to the second spot, offering visa-free access to 190 destinations.

Once leading the index, the United States of America is witnessing a dip in their rankings. However, Britain has shown improvement, moving up to fourth place, while the US ranking has dropped to eighth with access to 183 visa-free destinations.

The Henley Passport Index, which ranks 199 passports based on International Air Transport Association (IATA) data, is regularly updated to reflect changes in visa policies.

The average number of visa-free destinations, over the years, for travellers has nearly doubled from 58 in 2006 to 109.

“The general trend over the history of the 18-year-old ranking has been towards greater travel freedom, with the average number of destinations travellers are able to access visa-free nearly doubling from 58 in 2006 to 109 in 2023,” a statement by Henley & Partners read.

Despite the case, there remains a significant gap in travel freedom between the top-ranked and bottom-ranked countries.

Nationals of conflict-ridden countries, including Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, possess the least travel privileges, with access to just 27, 29, and 30 destinations, respectively.