Philippine Passport Stronger in the New 2018 Passport Index

The 2018 Henley Passport Index has recently been updated and we couldn’t be happier with the results!

From placing 75th in last year’s index, the Philippines moved up five spots this week with visa-free access to a total of 66 countries. This makes the Philippine passport the seventh strongest in Southeast Asia and the 70th in the world after a survey of 199 countries.

Clinching the overall top spot is Japan, which now gives its citizens visa-free access to 189 destinations, followed by Singapore and Germany with 188, then Finland, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden and South Korea, the third in Asia, with 187.

Meanwhile, the bottom five spots are occupied by a combination of African and Asian countries — Sudan, Yemen, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, with visa-free access to no more than 39 countries worldwide.

It can be noted that among the countries and territories added to the list of visa-free countries for Philippine passport holders are Hainan Province in China, Taiwan (on a trial until July 2018) and South Korea (if travelling to Jeju Island, as the visa-free access via Yangyang International Airport has recently ceased).

The Henley Passport Index is co-released by Henley and Partners, a global citizenship and residence advisory firm, and the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The index allows individuals to see their global mobility status and is updated from time to time each year.

Also read: Great Things That Happened to the Philippine Passport in 2017-2018