BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN (Borneo Bulletin/ANN): Brunei has inched its way back up in a global ranking of passports this year, based on the number of countries and destinations to which it has visa-free access.
The Brunei Darussalam passport is at 20th place in the list of most powerful passports, according to the latest Henley Passport Index with 166 visa-free destinations.
The Sultanate jumped two places compared to last year (where the Sultanate was ranked 22nd) and up by three places compared to 2021 (23rd). The highest position was in 2016 at 17th spot.
The British consulting firm Henley and Partners releasing the Henley Passport Index said Japan has been knocked off the top spot for the first time in five years and bumped into third place.
According to the latest ranking, based on exclusive and official data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Singapore now officially has the most powerful passport in the world, with its citizens able to visit 192 travel destinations out of 227 around the world visa-free.
Germany, Italy, and Spain move up into second place with visa-free access to 190 destinations, and Japanese passport holders join Austria, Finland, France, Luxembourg, South Korea, and Sweden in third place with access to 189 destinations without a prior visa.
United Kingdom jumped up two places on the latest ranking to fourth place. United States continued its decade-long slide down the index, plummeting a further two places to the eighth spot with access to just 184 destinations visa-free.
Afghanistan remains at the bottom of the Henley Passport Index, with a visa-free access score of just 27, followed by Iraq (score of 29), and Syria (score of 30) – the three weakest passports in the world.
Chairman of Henley and Partners and the inventor of the passport index concept Dr Christian H Kaelin said only eight countries have less visa-free access today than they did a decade ago while others have been more successful in securing greater travel freedom for their citizens.
“The United Arab Emirates has added 107 destinations to its visa-free score since 2013, resulting in a massive leap of 44 places in the ranking over the past 10 years from 56th to 12th position.
This is almost double the next biggest climber, Colombia, which jumped 28 places to sit in the 37th spot. Ukraine and China are also among the top 10 countries with the most improved rankings over the past decade,” he added.
Meanwhile for Asean passports, while Singapore is in first place, Malaysia was ranked 11th, Thailand came in 64th place, Indonesia is at 69th place, The Philippines passport is at 74th, Vietnam and Cambodia shared the 82nd place.
Laos is ranked 87th and Myanmar at the 89th place. – Borneo Bulletin/ANN
