PH passport ranks 76th best in world
Out of 199 evaluated
Filipino citizens had visa-free travel access to 60 countries, ranking the Philippine passport 76th best in the world, according to the latest Visa Restrictions Index published by Henley & Partners, the global leaders in residence and citizenship planning.
The company said this has been the lowest global score garnered by the Philippines in the 10-year analysis of the Visa Restrictions Index.
According to the index, out of 199 evaluated passports, the Philippine passport ranks 76th overall – allowing visa-free travel to a total of 60 countries.
Along with the rankings, a unique cumulative data from the last ten years, gives an unprecedented and inimitable insight into the development of visa policies over this time.
In Southeast Asia, Singapore continues to lead the region, ranking 5th globally with visa-free access to 169 countries. This is trailed by Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam with visa-free travel to 163 countries and 150 countries respectively.
This has been the 8th straight year the Philippine passport is ranked 5th out of 11 nations in the Southeast Asian region. Indonesia and Timor-Leste lag behind the Philippines with visa-free access to 55 and 49 countries consecutively.
In 2006 and 2007, Filipinos enjoyed a 4th place ranking among its Southeast Asian peers, until upset by the Thai passport. At a global ranking of 72nd, citizens of Thailand are able to access 68 countries without the need to secure a visa.
Germany and the United Kingdom rank first place, which have the joint highest score with visa-free access to 173 countries.
Somalia (Global rank: 107), Iraq (Global rank: 108) and Afghanistan (Global rank: 109) straggle at the bottom of this year’s Index, with visa-free access to only 30, 29 and 25 countries correspondingly.
Comparing the 2015 Index to the previous year shows many interesting results.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE), for example, has been catapulted into the spotlight as the biggest climber with its dramatic addition of 37 countries and improvement in rank from 55 to 40. It is also the biggest climber over the ten years of the Visa Restrictions Index, and one of only 22 to have moved up in the rankings over the last year.
Marco Gantenbein, Managing Partner of Henley & Partners in Dubai, said: “Europe, the US and Canada, as the world’s economic powerhouses, continue to dominate the top 10 as we anticipated. However, it’s the performance of the UAE which needs to be applauded for the implied improvement of its international relations, which is very much reflected in the improved ranking in the Henley & Partners Index.”