On Tuesday, the Henley Passport Index released its first report of the year, retaining the Pakistani passport’s rank at 104 out of 107, making it the fourth-worst passport for international travel ahead of Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.
According to the reports, the ranking is based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which maintains the world’s largest and most accurate database of travel information, enhanced by ongoing research.
The Index, which ranks of all the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa, placed Pakistan on the 104th position. In its latest report, the Index has found that only 32 nations allow visa-free access to Pakistan, tied with Somalia.
The Henley Passport Index, which periodically measures the world’s most travel-friendly passports released its first report of the new decade. In 2019, the Pakistani passport had been ranked as the fifth-worst passport to hold.
Meanwhile, The strongest passport was found to be that of Japan. According to the Index, the Japanese can avail visa-free, or visa-on-arrival, access to 191 destinations around the world. Singapore comes in second with 190, while South Korea and Germany are tied in third place with 189.
Other European countries also feature in the top 10 rankings as Finland and Italy on the fourth position while Spain, Luxembourg and Denmark rank fifth, and Sweden and France enjoying the sixth position.
The US and the UK, meanwhile, continued to slide down the rankings. They currently are tied in eighth place with 184 options for ease of travel – a dramatic drop from the number one spot they jointly held in 2015.
India ranks at 84 with 58 nations offering its nationals visa-free or visa-on-arrival access.