According to Henley & Partners, a global citizenship and residency advisory firm, Pakistan has been ranked as the fourth weakest passport in the world.
The country ranked 100th out of 227 countries assessed on the index, which is determined by the number of destinations Pakistani residents can travel to without requiring a visa.
Earlier this year, the country with a population of over 220 million was listed among the five countries with the lowest ranked passports by a London-based advisory firm.
According to the report, till January this year Pakistanis had access to 35 countries with on-arrival visa facility, which has now come down to 33.
Meanwhile, Singapore leads the index for having the most prestigious passports in the world, pushing Japan – which has led the list for the past five years – joint with South Korea, Austria, Finland, France, Luxembourg and Sweden. formally in third place. Citizens can access 189 destinations without prior visa.
Singaporeans, on the other hand, can travel visa-free to at least 193 destinations out of a total of 227 worldwide.
While Asia has traditionally dominated the rankings in the index, Europe is pulling back, with Germany, Italy and Spain in second place, offering visa-free access to 190 destinations.
The United States and the United Kingdom, once leading the index, are seeing a decline in their rankings. However, the UK has shown improvement and has moved 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 updated regularly to reflect changes in visa policies. The average number of visa-free destinations for travelers has almost doubled from 58 in 2006 to 109 over the past few years.
Regardless of the case, there remains a significant gap in travel freedom between top ranked and bottom ranked countries. Citizens of conflict-torn countries, including Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, have the fewest travel privileges, with access to only 27, 29 and 30 destinations respectively.
“The general trend over the 18-year ranking’s history has been towards greater travel freedom, with travelers able to access visa-free destinations, with the average number almost doubling from 58 in 2006 to 58 in 2023,” it said in a statement. It’s 109.” Read by Henley & Partners.
