If you’ve got that wanderlust bug biting you, then hold onto your hats because we’ve got some exciting news! The Malaysian passport is now the 11 strongest passport in the world, moving up two ranks from 2021 and 2022 and we couldn’t be prouder! Although, yes, we still have some ways to go to be back at fifth place like we were in 2017.
According to the Henley Passport Index for the third quarter of 2023, with this mighty travel document in hand, Malaysians can now venture into a whopping 180 out of 227 countries without the bureaucratic hassle of obtaining visas beforehand.
World’s most powerful and weakest passport
Singapore leads in the passport department this year, granting its holders visa-free travel to 192 nations and destinations. Spain, Germany, and Italy tied for second place, while Japan tied for third place with six other nations.
Brunei’s passport is the next closest on the list of the other Southeast Asian countries, ranking at number 20, followed by Thailand (64), Indonesia (69), the Philippines (74), Cambodia (82), Vietnam (82), Laos (87), and Myanmar (89). With access to visa-free or visa-on-arrival travel to 57 countries, India ranked number 80 on the list.
Afghanistan maintains its position at the bottom of the ranking with a visa-free access score of 27, followed by Iraq (29) and Syria (30) — the three weakest passports in the world.
Top 10 on the Henley Passport Index
- Singapore (192)
- Germany, Italy, Spain (190)
- Austria, Finland, France, Japan, Luxembourg, South Korea, Sweden (189)
- Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands, UK (188)
- Belgium, Czech Republic, Malta, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Switzerland (187)
- Australia, Hungary, Poland (186)
- Canada, Greece (185)
- Lithuania, US (184)
- Latvia, Slovakia, Slovenia (183)
- Estonia, Iceland (182)
