Pakistani Passport Drops to 103rd Position in Latest Global Ranking

In the latest Henley Passport Index for 2025, Pakistan’s passport has experienced a marked decline in its global ranking, sliding to the 103rd position from its previous rank of 96th. This downgrade reflects a reduction in travel freedom for Pakistani citizens, who can now access only 31 countries visa-free, down from 32 in the previous assessment.

Positioned just behind Pakistan are Iraq (104th), Syria (105th), and Afghanistan (106th), while Yemen shares the same rank as Pakistan. The decline highlights growing restrictions on Pakistani passport holders’ international mobility.

In the same ranking update, India has also suffered a fall, now ranked 85th. Conversely, Singapore maintains its dominance as the holder of the world’s most potent passport, enabling visa-free entry to 193 countries.

South Korea and Japan follow closely, securing the 2nd and 3rd spots with visa-free access to 190 and 189 nations, respectively. A group of European countries—including Germany, Italy, Spain, Luxembourg, and Switzerland—jointly occupy the 4th position, each granting their nationals visa-free travel to 188 destinations.

The United States passport, historically powerful, has plummeted to its lowest-ever rank of 12th, tied with Malaysia. Despite US passport holders enjoying visa-free access to 180 countries, the US itself extends visa-free entry to only 46 countries. This downward trajectory is largely attributed to the tightening of the Visa Reciprocity Policy, wherein Washington has imposed stricter visa conditions on multiple countries.

In stark contrast, China has made significant advancements, leaping from 94th place in 2015 to 64th in the current index. This improvement is credited to China’s efforts in signing visa-free agreements with 30 additional countries within the past year, signaling a rapid expansion in global travel freedom for Chinese citizens.

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