Pakistani passport has moved up five positions in the 2026 Henley Passport Index, improving from 103rd last year to 98th, according to the latest data released on Thursday.
In the updated rankings, Pakistan now shares the 98th position with Yemen and stands ahead of Iraq (99th), Syria (100th), and Afghanistan (101st).
The index shows that Pakistani passport holders can access 31 destinations without a prior visa, either through visa-free entry or visa-on-arrival facilities.
At the top of the list, Singapore retained its position as the world’s strongest passport, offering visa-free access to 192 destinations. Japan and South Korea followed with access to 188 countries, while Denmark, Luxembourg, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland jointly held third place with 186 destinations.
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According to the Henley Index, Pakistani citizens can travel visa-free to countries such as Barbados, Cook Islands, Dominica, Haiti, Micronesia, Montserrat, Rwanda, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and Vanuatu.
Visa-on-arrival options are available in several destinations, including Burundi, Cambodia, Cape Verde Islands, Comoro Islands, Djibouti, Guinea-Bissau, Madagascar, Maldives, Mozambique, Nepal, Niue, Palau Islands, Qatar, Samoa, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Timor-Leste, and Tuvalu.
Additionally, Pakistani travelers are eligible for Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) in Kenya, Seychelles, and Sri Lanka.
Reacting to the development, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi welcomed the improvement, calling it a “strong achievement” and expressing confidence that the upward progress would continue.
In October last year, Pakistan’s passport was ranked 103rd, marking its position as the fourth weakest globally for the fifth consecutive year. Historically, the passport ranked 100th in both 2023 and 2024, 109th in 2022—when it allowed visa-free access to 32 countries—and 107th in 2021 with a similar score.
The Henley Passport Index ranks passports based on the number of destinations their holders can access without obtaining a visa in advance or by securing a visa on arrival.
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