Qatar soars nine places in global passport index; UAE tops in GCC and Singapore globally

Published: 28 July 2024

NT Bureau

DOHA: Qatar has made a significant leap in the latest Henley Passport Index, rising to 46th place globally with visa-free access to 107 countries.

This marks an impressive climb from 55th place in January 2023, moving up nine spots in the ranking.

Singapore has reclaimed its title as the world’s most powerful passport, setting a new record with its citizens now enjoying visa-free access to 195 travel destinations out of 227 worldwide. France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Spain occupy a joint second place, each with visa-free access to 192 destinations.

Austria, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, South Korea, and Sweden share the third position, with visa-free entry to 191 countries.

Among GCC countries, the UAE has the most powerful passport, at 9th place globally, getting visa-free access to 152 destinations. Qatar enjoys the second position and is followed by Kuwait at 49th globally, Saudi Arabia at 56th, Bahrain at 57th, and Oman at 58th.

India’s passport is ranked 82nd, granting its citizens visa-free entry to 58 foreign destinations, and has moved up two spots compared to last year.

The UK, alongside New Zealand, Norway, Belgium, Denmark, and Switzerland, ranks fourth with visa-free access to 190 countries.

The US has slipped to the eighth position, allowing its citizens visa-free entry to 186 countries.

Commenting in the July 2024 edition of the Henley Global Mobility Report, Dr. Christian H. Kaelin, Chairman of Henley & Partners and the inventor of the passport index concept, stated, “The general trend over the past two decades has been towards greater travel freedom, with the global average number of destinations travelers can access visa-free nearly doubling from 2006 to 2024.”

The rankings are based on exclusive and official data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

China and Ukraine have shown the most significant improvement in their passport rankings over the past decade, while Venezuela has experienced the largest decline.

Afghanistan firmly remains the world’s weakest passport, leaving its citizens with visa-free entry to only 26 countries — the lowest score ever recorded in the 19-year history of the index.