Pakistan has been ranked as having the fourth weakest passport in the world, after declining one spot as compared to last year.
Henley & Partners, a global citizenship and residence advisory company, released a report of the strength of the passport of countries and territories around the world.
Pakistan ranks stands at the 100th position. The countries ranked below Pakistan are Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
The strength of the passport is determined based on the number of destinations Pakistani residents can visit without needing a visa. Pakistanis had access to 33 countries with an on-arrival visa facility.
Earlier this year, Pakistan was listed among the five countries with the lowest-ranked passports and Pakistanis had visa-free access to 35 countries.
Meanwhile, Singapore leads the index as possessing the most-coveted passport in the world, pushing Japan — leading the list for the last five years — to the third position.
Germany, Italy and Spain move up into second place, with visa-free access to 190 destinations.
Japan has been bumped into third place, a slot it occupies with six other nations – Austria, Finland, France, Luxembourg, South Korea, and Sweden. Citizens of these countries can all visit 189 destinations without a prior visa.
Singaporeans can visit at least 193 destinations visa-free around the world out of the total 227.
The UK has jumped up two places to fourth place, a position it last held in 2017. Its citizens – along with those from Ireland, Denmark and the Netherlands – can visit 188 countries visa-free.
The United States continues its now decade-long slide down the index, slipping a further two places to eighth, with access to 184 countries visa-free. T
The UK and the US jointly held first place on the index in 2014, but have been on a broadly downward trajectory ever since.
The ranking has been produced by the Henley Passport Index, which is based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). It analyses how many countries a passport holder can enter without a prior visa.
In a statement, Henley Passport Index said, “The general trend over the history of the 18-year-old ranking has been towards greater travel freedom, with the average number of destinations travelers are able to access visa-free nearly doubling from 58 in 2006 to 109 in 2023.”
“However, the global mobility gap between those at the top and bottom of the index is now wider than it has ever been, with top-ranked Singapore able to access 165 more destinations visa-free than Afghanistan.’
