Malaysia Scores 11th Spot in Henley’s Passport Index

The Henley Passport Index (“HPI”) is a global ranking of countries according to the travel freedom allowed by those countries' ordinary passports for their citizens. It started in 2006 as Henley & Partners Visa Restrictions Index (HVRI) and was changed and renamed in January 2018.

The index annually ranks 199 passports of the world by the number of countries their holders can travel to without visas. The number of countries that a specific passport can access becomes its visa-free "score". In collaboration with the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Henley & Partners has analysed the visa regulations of almost all the world's countries and territories since 2006.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org

As of 19 July 2023, there was a major change in the rankings, with almost all countries in the top 10 declining by at least one place. The Singaporean passport is at the top and offers holders visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 192 countries and territories. This is followed by the German, Italian, and Spanish passports, each offering 190 visa-free or visa-on-arrival countries and territories to its holders.

These rankings are followed by the Austrian, Finnish, French, Japanese, Luxembourg, South Korea and Swedish passports, each offering visa-free or visa-on-arrival to 189 countries and territories.

The ranking of the United States increased by one place, decreasing in its visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 184 countries and territories, from 87. The Australian and Canadian passports did not change in rank, despite decreasing in their visa-free or visa-on-arrival access from 187 to 186 and 186 to 185, respectively.

Of the five countries of the Five Nations Passport Group (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom, United States), the British passport offers [he most visa-free or visa-on-arrival access (188 countries and territories), and the United States passport offers the least. In South America, the Chilean passport offers its holders visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 174 countries and territories, the highest in the region, followed by the Argentine passport (169) and the Brazilian (168).

The Afghan passport remains the world's weakest, allowing nationals to visit 27 destinations without visas. Just above this are the Iraqi passport (29) and the Syrian passport (30).

Malaysia is in 11th place, an improvement from 13th in the previous year (2022). This means Malaysians have visa-free access to 180 of 227 travel destinations worldwide. The highest ranking we achieved was 8th in 2014. 

We are second after Singapore in the ASEAN grouping. Thailand and Indonesia were at 64th and 69th spot respectively. India is ranked 80th, up from 87 in 2022 while China ranks 122nd in 2023.

This is a bit of good news for Malaysian travellers and perhaps we could aim for a top 10 status which is not that far for us as a goal.

Reference:

Henley Passport Index, Wikipedia