Philippine passport rises slightly in global rankings

The Philippine passport rose three spots to joint 72nd place in a global passport index, its best showing since 2014.

In the Henley Passport Index's latest results, released on Tuesday, the Philippines tied with the African countries Benin and Uganda, up from 75th place in 2025.

According to the index, you can currently travel visa-free to 65 countries on this Philippine passport.

The Philippines reached its highest place on the index in 2007, 2008 and 2009, when it stayed in 62nd place. It plunged to its lowest placement of 83rd place in 2021 before clawing its way back up to eventual 72nd place this year.

Retaining the #1 spot for the third year in a row—and for the sixth time in eight years— is Singapore, with visa-free access to a jaw-dropping 192 countries.

In joint second place are Japan, South Korea, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), each with visa-free access to 188 countries.

The UAE was the biggest jumper on the list, starting out in 62nd place when the index was first released in 2006. Henley hailed it as "the greatest improvement of any passport in the index’s history, adding 153 visa-free destinations over 20 years and rising from the middle of the rankings to become one of the world’s most powerful passports—a striking example of how sustained diplomatic engagement and international cooperation can transform global mobility."

The lowest-ranked country is Afghanistan in 104th place, with visa-free access to only 22 countries. This represents a record 170 destinations in the "mobility gap" between the highest- and lowest-ranked countries.

The United States, which had the number one passport when the index began in 2006 and again in 2014, has dropped steadily over the years and is now in its lowest ranking yet of 10th place, with visa-free access to 180 countries.

ASEAN results

Among countries in Southeast Asia, the Philippines is just below the middle, with six nations ranked higher and four ranked lower.

The next-highest ranked country in ASEAN after overall index leader Singapore is Malaysia, up five spots to 7th place.

Four more countries are ranked higher than the Philippines: Brunei (19), Timor-Leste (52), Thailand (63), and Indonesia (68).

Four are ranked lower: Vietnam (87), Cambodia (88), Laos (89), and Myanmar (91).

In its summary, Henley said that the ranking "reveals a striking paradox: despite the sharpest decline in global peace since the Second World War, the average passport has almost doubled its visa-free access—from 58 destinations in 2006 to 108 today."

Launched in 2006, the Henley Passport Index by UK consultancy firm Henley & Partners ranks the world's passports according to the number of destinations they are given access to without a visa. — BM, GMA News