The Philippines remains in the middle of the pack of countries with the strongest passports.
According to the 2024 Henley Global Passport Index, the Philippine passport ranks 73rd, up from 78 last year, and with access to 67 of the 227 countries without applying for a visa.
Scott Moore, managing director of Henley & Partners, said the general trend is up for the Philippines passport ranking, citing its growth performance .
Henley & Partners is a global leader in residence and citizenship by investment.
“The Philippines is viewed as quite stable right now… is growing on average between six to seven and a half percent annually over the past decade. And we anticipate this growth will continue and our research has consistently shown a strong correlation between a country’s visa-free score and as the Philippine economy continues to grow, it should continue to see improvements on the passport’s visa-free access,” Moore said.
Moore said Henley & Partners has noted countries in Southeast Asia at the bottom of the index, Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia, have roughly the same opportunity score.
Opportunity index is based on earning potential career advancement, employment prospects, premium education, economic mobility, and livability.
For Filipinos, popular destinations for residence are Europe, North America and Australia.
Globally, Singapore has reclaimed its position as the world’s most powerful passport, allowing visa-free access to 195 destinations. The latest report highlights a growing gap between the most and least powerful passports, with top-ranked Singapore able to access 169 more destinations visa-free than Afghanistan, which remains the weakest passport with access to only 26 countries.
