The Philippine passport kept its spot at 73rd out of 199 passports globally in the latest Henley Passport Index, a ranking of all the world's passports based on visa-free travel to other countries.

While the country's position remains unchanged from its previous January ranking, the number of visa-free destinations for Filipino passport holders went down from 69 to 67.

Armenia and Togo changed their visa policies and removed visa-free entry for travelers from the Philippines, among other countries, said Henley and Partners managing director Scott Moore in a press conference.

Disregarding the years when the COVID-19 pandemic halted global travel, the Philippines has been "fairly consistent" on the passport index "with a slight trend upwards" since 2015, Moore said.

With the Philippines' annual economic growth hovering around 6 to 7.5% in the past decade, Moore said a stronger economy in the next years could raise the Philippine passport's visa-free score.

"We anticipate this growth will continue, and our research has consistently shown a strong correlation between a country's visa free score and its economic prosperity," Moore added.

Nations with higher visa-free scores tend to enjoy greater GDP (Gross domestic product) per capita, increased foreign investments and more robust international trade relationships, he explained.

Philippine passport average in Southeast Asia

Compared to its Southeast Asian neighbors, the Philippines' visa-free score is "right in the middle of the pack," the Henley and Partners managing director said.

Based on the July 2024 index, the Philippines' passport performs better than Vietnam and South Asian countries India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Meanwhile, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and China scored higher than the Philippines.

Singapore, which reclaimed the top spot as the most powerful passport with visa-free access to 195 countries, is "definitely an outlier," Moore said.

Second to Singapore are the countries France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Spain, which all share the spot.

Sitting in third place are countries Austria, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, South Korea, and Sweden.

Meanwhile, the United Kingdom, described as a "former passport powerhouse," remains at the 4th place along with Belgium, Denmark, New Zealand, Norway, and Switzerland.

Afghanistan remains at the bottom of the list, with its passport losing visa-free travel to another country in the last six months. This brings Afghanistan's access to visa-free countries to just 26, the lowest score ever recorded in the history of the 19-year-old index.

The Henley Passport Index ranks countries' passports based on official data from the International Air Transport Association.

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