Philippine passport among weakest in SE Asia – study

MANILA, Philippines — Filipinos continue to hold one of the weakest passports in Southeast Asia, as the Philippines has yet to catch up with the visa-free access of most of its regional neighbors.

In the 2024 Henley Passport Index, the Philippines retained its rank of 73rd in the world in terms of passport strength, allowing Filipinos to enter 67 countries without a visa.

The Philippines managed to improve its passport strength by five notches from a year ago, when it placed 78th.

However, the country is far from attaining the visa-free status of the passports of its regional peers. Singapore reclaimed its position as the world’s most powerful passport, providing holders visa-free entry in 195 destinations, the highest in history.

Malaysia ranked 12th, followed by Brunei Darussalam in 19th, Thailand in 60th and Indonesia in 65th. On the contrary, the Philippines stayed ahead of the passports of Cambodia (86th), Vietnam (88th), Lao PDR (90th) and Myanmar (92nd).

Henley & Partners managing director Scott Moore said the Philippines has gained momentum in expanding its visa-free network since 2015, excluding the pandemic.

“From 2015 until now, beside COVID-19 (pandemic), the general trend is up for the Philippines passport ranking,” Moore said.

“The Philippines is viewed as quite stable right now, and as the Philippine economy continues to grow, it should continue to see improvements on the passport’s visa-free access,” he added.

Moore said the challenge for the Philippines is to sustain its economic recovery to build on the gains made in strengthening its passport. Countries with the strongest passports tend to enjoy the healthiest economic growths, largest foreign investments and widest trade relationships.

France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Spain trail Singapore in the race to the strongest passport, with their residents allowed to enter 192 destinations without a visa. The United Arab Emirates, for its part, is the biggest climber in the past 10 years, jumping to ninth in 2024, from 55th in 2014.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan holds the weakest passport, with holders granted visa-free travel to just 26 destinations, and the country is joined by Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Pakistan in the bottom of the list.

The Henley Passport Index studies the visa-free access of 199 passports across the globe, making it one of the most trusted indexes for passport strength.