PH passport now 72nd most powerful out of 199
The Philippines improved slightly in the annual listing of the world’s most powerful passports compiled by Henley Passport Index, which bases the rankings on the number of visa-free destinations passport holders enjoy.
The index, released on Tuesday, placed the Philippines in the 72nd spot out of 199 countries. It shared the ranking with Mongolia and Sierra Leone, because the passports of the three nations can travel to 65 target destinations without the need for a visa.
The country’s ranking was one slot higher than its 73rd place in 2024 and is also considered an improvement over its rankings in 2021 (83rd), 2022 (77th), and 2023 (78th).
But the number of visa-free destinations available to Filipino passport holders did not even reach half of the 227 destinations targeted by Henley through the documentation requirements database of the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
By Henley’s definition, the most powerful passport in the world was that of Singapore, which can access 193 destinations without a visa or require only a visa-on-arrival. The second top spot was shared by Japan and South Korea with access to 190 destinations.
In third rank were seven European nations whose nationals can travel to 189 nations without a visa: Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Spain.
Seven other European countries, who enjoy visa-free entry to 188 destinations, were in 4th place—Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and Sweden.
UK, US rankings down
Tied for 5th place were New Zealand, Greece and Switzerland.
The world’s largest economy, the United States, ranked 10th with Lithuania and Iceland with access to 182 destinations without a visa required. China, the world’s second largest economy, was ranked 60th with 83 target destinations.
Henley noted that the United Kingdom and United States, which once had the most powerful passports in the world, in 2015 and 2014, respectively, have dropped down the list. The UK is ranked 6th with visa-exempt access to 186 destinations while the United States is in 10th place with 182. The United States is also on the brink of exiting the Top 10 altogether for the first time in the index’s 20-year history.
The midpoint ranking according to visa-free destinations appeared to be 96 countries, which made the Timor Leste passport the 49th most powerful worldwide.
Aside from Singapore and Timor Leste, other Southeast Asian nations in the upper half of the index were Malaysia (11th rank) and Brunei (18th).
Afghanistan, on the other hand, remained at the bottom of the ranking, with its citizens able to access just 25 destinations without a prior visa.
