The Republic of China (Taiwan) passport ranks 33rd in the world, offering visa-free access to 139 destinations, according to the latest Henley Passport Index released on Tuesday.
The ranking places Taiwan eighth in the Asia-Pacific region, behind Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Brunei and Macau, and ahead of China, which sits at 60th overall.
According to the latest Henley Passport Index, Singapore is the world’s most powerful passport, with visa-free access to 193 destinations out of 227 globally.
Photo: CNA
It is followed by Japan and South Korea, which share second place, with their citizens having access to 190 destinations visa-free, the index shows.
The passport of China ranks 60th with visa-free access to 83 destinations, while Hong Kong ranked 17th with holders of its passports able to enter 169 destinations visa-free, followed by Macau at 31st with 144.
The index is compiled by the London-based investment migration firm Henley & Partners based on data from the International Air Transport Association to rank the power of 199 passports across 227 travel destinations, according to the firm’s Web site.
For each passport, one point is given for every destination where holders can enter without a visa, obtain a visa, visitor’s permit or electronic travel authority on arrival, which the firm also counts as “visa-free” as they do not require pre-departure government approval.
Otherwise, no point is given, so the final points tally for each passport equals the number of destinations where a passport’s holder is granted visa-free access, the firm’s Web site says.
According to a news release from the company, since January, the US and the UK have each slipped one spot, now ranking sixth with access to 186 destinations and 10th with 184 respectively.
India made the biggest jump over the past six months, rising from 85th to 77th with access to 59 visa-free destinations.
Saudi Arabia saw the largest gain in destinations, adding four since January to reach 91 and climb to 54th place in the rankings.
Most of the top five passport rankings were held by European countries, with Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Spain all tied for third place, offering visa-free access to 189 destinations.
Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and Sweden shared fourth place with visa-free access to 188 destinations, while Greece, Switzerland and New Zealand ranked fifth with 187.
Afghanistan ranked last, with access to just 25 visa-free destinations — 168 fewer than top-ranked Singapore.
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