Macau passport drops on list of most powerful

The Macau SAR passport ranked number 36 in the most powerful passport index analyzed by Henley & Partners, six places down from the previous report in the last quarter of 2018.

Currently, Macau SAR passports allow their bearers to travel to 139 countries and regions with a visa-free/visa-on-arrival entry condition.

The index includes 199 different passports and 227 different travel destinations. 

In December 2018, a Canada-based global financial advisory firm, Arton Capital, ranked Macau number 30 in the world, with passport holders able to travel to 129 countries visa-free.

Moving into the third quarter of 2019, Japan and Singapore hold the joint top spot on the Henley Passport Index with a visa-free/visa-on-arrival score of 189.

This latest ranking of passport power and global mobility which is based on a data from the International Air Transport Association marks the culmination of an 18-month long winning streak for both countries after they unseated Germany from its long-held first position at the beginning of 2018.

Falling from the first place, a spot it shared with Japan and Singapore last quarter, South Korea now ranks second  on the index along with Finland and Germany, with citizens of all three countries able to access 187 destinations around the world without a prior visa.

With a visa-free/visa- on-arrival score of 183, the U.K. and the U.S. now share sixth place – the lowest position either country has held since 2010, and a significant drop from their first-place spot in 2014.

In the hope of attracting tourists and boosting its struggling economy, Pakistan now offers an ETA (Electronic Travel Authority) to citizens of 50 countries, including Finland, Japan, Malta, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Arab Emirates.

The weakest passports in Q3 of 2019 were Somalia, Pakistan, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, ranked from 105 to 109 respectively. Afghani citizens are only able to access 25 destinations worldwide without a prior visa. LV