Pakistani passport ranked fourth worst in world

July 29, 2024 (MLN): The Pakistani passport has been ranked the fourth worst by this year’s Henley Passport Index, a ranking of the world’s 199 passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa.

According to the latest ranking released on Tuesday, Pakistan’s passport was in 100th place, permitting visa-free access to only 33 states.

The ranking tied with Yemen and was only higher than those of Iraq (101), Syria (102), and Afghanistan (103).

Meanwhile, Singapore reclaimed its title as the world’s most powerful passport in the ranking published on July 23, 2024.

The city-state also set a new record score, with its citizens enjoying access to 195 travel destinations out of 227 around the world visa-free.

France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Spain dropped to joint-second place, each with visa-free access to 192 destinations.

Austria, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, South Korea, and Sweden were in third place on the ranking, based on exclusive and official data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). 

The UK held onto fourth place along with Belgium, Denmark, New Zealand, Norway, and Switzerland, despite its visa-free destination score falling to 190.

The US, on the other hand, continued its decade-long slide down the index, dropping to eighth spot with access to just 186 destinations visa-free. Former passport powerhouses, the UK and the US, had jointly held first place on the index 10 years ago in 2014.

Afghanistan remained firmly entrenched as the world’s weakest passport, losing access to yet another destination over the past six months, leaving its citizens with access to only 26 countries visa-free — the lowest score ever recorded in the 19-year history of the index.

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