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The Henley Passport Index ranking for Q4 2019 has just been released by Henley & Partners, an investment and immigration consulting firm.
Henley & Partners' passport power ranking is based on data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), using the standard of the number of countries and territories that citizens of each country can enter with their passport without needing a visa beforehand.
Accordingly, Vietnam's passport ranks 90th out of 107 passports ranked, as it only allows visa-free travel to 51 countries. Within the region, Vietnam's passport power lags behind Cambodia (ranked 88th, visa-free access to 53 countries) and surpasses Laos (ranked 92nd, 49 countries). Compared to last year, Vietnam's passport ranking dropped 15 places this year, moving closer to the group of 10 countries with the "worst passports," which includes North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.
With a Vietnamese passport, travelers can enter 51 countries without needing a visa.
Japan and Singapore hold the top positions in terms of passport power, with citizens of both countries able to travel freely to 190 countries without a visa. With visa-free access to 188 countries, the South Korean passport is the second strongest in the world, on par with Germany and Finland, and stronger than Denmark, Italy, Luxembourg (ranked 3rd); France, Spain, Sweden (ranked 4th); Australia, the Netherlands, Portugal (ranked 5th); or Canada, Belgium, the UK, the US... (ranked 6th).
The next most powerful passports from Asian countries and territories are Malaysia (ranked 12th, allowing travel to 177 countries), Hong Kong (ranked 18th, 168 countries), Brunei (ranked 21st, 165 countries), Taiwan (ranked 31st, 145 countries), and Macao (ranked 33rd, 141 countries).
Along with Vietnam, other Asian countries whose passports are ranked in the lower half of the list include China (ranked 72nd, 71 countries), Indonesia (ranked 73rd, 70 countries), India (ranked 82nd, 59 countries)...
Afghanistan once again ranks at the bottom of this list. Afghan citizens are only granted visa-free access to 25 countries worldwide.
