THE PHILIPPINE passport was ranked 73rd in terms of visa-free access to other countries, according to the Henley Passport Index (HPI) released Wednesday.
HPI reported that the Philippine passport grants its holder visa-free access to 67 countries.
“The Philippine passport has been fairly consistent on the Henley Passport Index with a slight trend upwards,” Henley & Partners Managing Director and Head for Southeast Asia Scott Moore said in a briefing Wednesday.
“The Philippine economy is growing on average between six to seven and a half percent annually over the past decade, and we anticipate this growth will continue.”
He noted the ”strong correlation” between a country’s visa-free tally and its economic prosperity.
The Philippines ranked 83rd in 2021, 77th in 2022, 78th in 2023, and 73rd in January and July 2024.
“As the economy continues to grow and develop, the passport score should continue to trend upward. It’s important to keep in mind that the Philippines is growing definitely at a higher rate than the established Western countries,” Mr. Moore said.
The visa-free destination count of 67 represented a fall of two countries after Armenia and Togo changed their rules from “visa-on-arrival for everyone” to “e-visa for everyone,” he said.
Singapore was rated the “strongest” passport with visa-free access to 195 countries, while Afghanistan was at the bottom of the list, placing 103rd with a visa-free tally of 26 countries visa-free.
“The gap is widening between countries at the top of our index and countries at the bottom of the index, which right now is Afghanistan… that is a gap of 169 countries, which is also larger than it ever has been before,” he said.
France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Spain dropped to joint second place with visa-free access to 192 countries.
Meanwhile, Austria, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, South Korea, and Sweden were at joint third with visa-free access to 191 countries.
This was followed by Belgium, Denmark, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, and the UK were in joint fourth with visa-free access to 190 countries.
Australia and Portugal were tied for fifth with visa-free access to 189 countries. — Aubrey Rose A. Inosante
