Global citizenship and residence advisory firm Henley & Partners has published its Visa Restrictions Index 2017, ranking countries and territories in the world by the number of other countries that their citizens can travel to visa-free.
This year’s index put Macau SAR passports as the joint 36th strongest in the world, allowing visa-free access to 127 countries and territories. Macau shares the ranking with passport holders from Panama, St. Lucia and St. Vincent, and the Grenadines, but is beaten by Paraguay (128), Venezuela (129) and Mauritius (131).
The ranking is an improvement over the 2016 edition of the index, in which Macau was ranked 40th with a score of 120. In 2015, Macau enjoyed access to the same number of countries as 2016, but held a better global ranking, also at 36.
Hong Kong was ranked 22nd in the index, allowing visa-free access to 152 countries, down from 20 in 2016 and 16 for the year before. Taiwan came in at 31st (134) and mainland China at 85th (51).
For the North Asia region, which includes Macau and Hong Kong, Macau was recognized as the “biggest climber”, moving up four ranks. Nevertheless it remained the fifth strongest in the region out of a total of six countries, beating only mainland China.
Hong Kong saw the biggest fall with a slip of just two ranks, but retained its status as the third strongest in the region. Japan also retained its position as the top- ranked country in the North Asia region.
In global terms, the strongest passports are issued by Germany, according to the index, with the country’s citizens permitted visa-free access to 176 countries. The number two spot is held by Sweden (175), while Denmark, Finland, Italy, Spain and the United States share third place, each at 174.
Meanwhile, the weakest of the passports were issued by the states of Somalia (30), Syria (29), Pakistan (28), Iraq (27) and Afghanistan (24).
In accordance with the Henley & Partners Visa Restrictions Index methodology, the data is compiled based on regulations effective on January 1, 2017. It surveys 199 passports from around the world and 219 destination countries, therefore the maximum score a country can earn is 218. DB
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