The Philippines Has One of the Weakest Passports in SEA

The Philippines has shown continuous efforts to improve its passport, but it still has a lot of catching up to do with its neighbors.

According to the latest Henley Passport Index, the country remained at 73rd place in terms of passport strength globally, with Filipinos having visa-free access to 67 destinations as of July. This ranking is the same as last year when the Philippines improved by five notches from 78th in 2022. Henley & Partners describes the outlook for the Philippines as “quite stable” at the moment.

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“From 2015 until now, besides [the COVID-19 pandemic], the general trend is up for the [Philippines’] passport ranking,” Henley & Partners managing director Scott Moore said in a statement. “As [its] economy continues to grow, it should continue to see improvements on the passport’s visa-free access.”

Despite the positive news, the Philippines still does not compare quite favorably to its neighbors in Southeast Asia. Singapore has reclaimed its status as the nation with the strongest passport in the world, offering visa-free entry to 195 destinations, the highest in history. Countries with the most powerful passports often perform well in terms of economic growth, as well as trade and investments.

Malaysia, meanwhile, placed 12th, followed by Brunei (19th), Thailand (60th), and Indonesia (65th).

Ranking next to Singapore are France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Spain, which provide residents with access to 192 countries without a visa. In contrast, Afghanistan is at the bottom, as its passport holders can only travel to 26 destinations visa-free.

The Henley Passport Index is one of the most trusted indices for passport strength. Citing exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), it analyzes the visa-free access of 199 different passports to 227 travel destinations worldwide.