KARACHI: For the third consecutive year, the Pakistani passport has been ranked the ‘fourth worst’ by this year’s Henley Passport Index, a ranking of the world’s 199 passports according to the number of destinations their owners can access without a prior visa.

In the latest ranking, Pa­­kistan’s travel docum­ent is only ranked higher than those of Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Pakistan’s passport permits visa-free access to 33 states, Syria’s gives access to 30 destinations, Iraq’s allows travel to 29 and Afghanistan’s travel document only affords the bearer access to 29 destinations. The top spot belongs to Singapore, as its passport provides citizens visa-free access to 192 destinations.

Germany, Italy and Spain tied for 2nd place, with each passport allowing access to 190 destinations.

In 2022, the top spot was taken by Japan, which has now moved down to number three. It shares this rank with Austria, Finland, France, Luxembourg, South Korea and Sweden, all of whose passports provide citizens visa-free access to 189 destinations.

Of the countries in the Top 10, the US has seen the biggest fall in its ranking over the past decade, plummeting from 2nd place to 8th.

Published in Dawn, July 20th, 2023