Pakistan's passport is the fourth worst in the world
A new global ranking of the prestigious Henley Passport Index, which shows the strength of passports of countries around the world, has been released. In this list released last week, on one hand, citizens of countries like Singapore can travel to almost every corner of the world without a visa, while on the other hand, Pakistan's passport remains one of the weakest passports in the world for the fourth consecutive year. This ranking is a measure of how many other countries a citizen of a country can enter without prior visa.
Pakistanis in this year's ranking Passport Has been placed at 103rd position, which is jointly with Yemen. This ranking is a big blow for Pakistan, as it makes it the fourth weakest passport in the world. According to the list, Pakistani passport holders are allowed visa-free access to only 31 countries out of 227 global destinations.
There are only three countries below Pakistan in this list. Iraq is at 104th place, whose citizens can visit 29 countries without a visa. War-torn Syria is ranked 105th, offering visa-free access to only 26 destinations. At the same time, Afghanistan is at the last position in the list (106th), whose passport holder can travel to only 24 countries without visa. This is the fourth consecutive year that Pakistan has been ranked as the fourth worst passport in the world on the Henley Index.
While some countries are struggling for travel freedom, Asian countries have maintained their dominance in this list. Singapore has once again captured the top position. Singapore's passport has been recognized as one of the most powerful in the world, granting its citizens visa-free access to 193 destinations.
The second place in this list is also occupied by an Asian country, South Korea, whose citizens can travel to 190 countries without a visa. At the same time, Japan is in third place with a visa-free score of 189 destinations. After this, the dominance of European countries is seen. Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain and Switzerland are jointly in fourth place, whose passport holders can visit 188 places without a visa. Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland and the Netherlands occupy fifth position with a visa-free score of 187.
One of the most shocking results in this year's ranking is the decline of powerful countries like America and Britain. This is the first time in the history of the Henley Passport Index in the last 20 years that the United States has dropped out of the list of the 10 most powerful passports in the world. In 2014, the US passport was in first place, but now it has come down to 12th place along with Malaysia. US citizens can now travel visa-free to only 180 of the world's 227 destinations.
Similarly, the British passport has also slipped to its lowest position ever. This passport, which was at the top in 2015, has fallen from sixth place to eighth place since July. In contrast, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) passport has continued its impressive progress. UAE passport, which entered the top-10 for the first time last year, has climbed one more place to eighth place with a visa-free score of 184. At the same time, a decline has also been recorded in China's passports. China, which was ranked 59th last year, has now dropped to 64th and its visa-free score has dropped from 85 to 82. There is no good news for India too, our ranking has also fallen lower than before. Last year we were at number 80, and now we have come at number 85. Now Indian people can visit only 57 countries of the world without obtaining a prior visa.
