S’pore ranked 5th globally for travel freedom, has visa-free access to 173 countries: Index
Singapore passport. TODAY file photo
SINGAPORE — The Republic has once again been ranked among the countries with the most travel freedom. Singapore passport holders have unrestricted access to 173 countries out of 219 countries, according to the 2016 Henley & Partners Visa Restrictions Index.
This is a slight increase from the 169 countries that offered the Republic visa-free access last year, and places the strength of the Singapore passport on par with those from Austria and Japan.
Together, the three countries are ranked fifth in travel freedom in the Index, released on Wednesday (Feb 24). This is the third year running that Singapore has been ranked fifth.
Meanwhile, Germany topped the Index for a third year in a row, being the sole country where citizens have visa-free access to 177 countries. Sweden was second place with visa-free access to 176 countries.
While the UK and Malaysia had visa-free access to more countries this year, compared to last year, they still fell in the ranking as other countries saw a larger growth in visa-free access. The UK fell to third place, after three consecutive years in first place, while Malaysia fell to 12th place after three years in the top 10.
“Generally, there was significant movement across the board with only 21 of the 199 countries listed remaining in the same rank. No country however, dropped more than three positions, indicating that overall, visa-free access is improving around the world,” said Henley & Partners.
At the bottom of the ranking were Somalia, Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan, which Henley & Partners said have “the worst passports in the world”.
Henley & Partners evaluated 199 different passports in deriving their index. The passports evaluated came from the 193 Member States of the United Nations, as well as Taiwan, Kosovo, Palestinian Territory, Vatican City, Hong Kong and Macau. There were 28 countries in the top 10 of the index this year.
Four countries saw huge gains in the strength of their passports: Tonga rose by 16 spots, Palau by 20, Colombia by 25 and Timor Leste was the highest climber with an increase of 33 ranks.
