Philippines now at 74th place in the global passport ranking index

The Philippine passport now ranks 74th in this year’s Henley Passport Index, a four-place jump from its previous rank.

Based on the data on the third quarter of 2023, Filipinos can visit 66 visa-free and visa-on-arrival locations, similar to Armenia and Cape Verde Islands that are also on the 74th spot. A visa-on-arrival means a visa will be given once a traveler arrive in a foreign country.

In the first quarter of 2023, the Henley Passport Index listed the Philippines on the 78th spot, with visa-free access to 67 countries.

The latest Henley Passport Index is based on the exclusive data from the International Air Transport Authority (IATA), wherein 199 different passports and 227 travel destinations were assessed.

Singapore replaced Japan from being the most powerful passport, with visa-free access to 192 countries. Japan went down to the third spot, having the same rank as Austria, Finland, France, Luxembourg, South Korea, and Sweden. They all have visa-free access to 189 countries.

South Korea was previously in second place, with a 192 visa-free score.

Meanwhile, Germany and Spain went up to the second place, from their third spot in the first quarter. They are joined by Italy which ranked fourth in the previous passport index.

Denmark, Ireland, The Netherlands, and the United Kingdom moved up to the fourth spot with a 188 visa-free score. Denmark and the Netherlands ranked fifth, while Ireland and the UK ranked sixth during the first quarter of the year.

Belgium, Czech Republic, Malta, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, and Switzerland also jumped to the fifth rank, having visa-free access to 187 destinations.

66 visa-free and visa-on-arrival destinations

Filipinos can set foot on these 66 visa-free and visa-on-arrival destinations in six regions across the globe.

In Oceania, they can travel to Cook Islands, Marshall Islands, Niue, Samoa, Vanuatu, Fiji, Micronesia, Palau Islands, and Tuvalu.

They can also visit Armenia, Israel, Iran, and Palestinian Territory in the Middle East.

In the Caribbean, Filipinos can enter Barbados, Haiti, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominica, St. Lucia, and Trinidad and Tobago.

Adding to these countries are Brunei, Hong Kong, Kazakhstan, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan , Macao, Maldives, Myanmar, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, and Timor-Leste in Asia.

Bolivia, Colombia, Nicaragua, Suriname, Brazil, Costa Rica, and Peru in the Americas are also in the list.

Completing these locations are Burundi, Comoro Islands, Djibouti, Madagascar, Mauritania, Morocco, Rwanda, Seychelles, Tanzania, Togo, Cape Verde Islands, Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Senegal, Somalia, and The Gambia in Africa.