Qatar's Passport Has Advanced Nine Spots in the Global Rankings

Qatar's Passport Has Advanced Nine Spots in the Global Rankings

Qatar is now ranked 46th globally, with visa-free access to 107 destinations, an improvement from 55th place with access to 100 destinations in January 2023. This nine-place rise is highlighted in the latest Henley Passport Index, which assesses 199 passports worldwide.

In previous years, Qatar's rankings were 57th in 2019, 54th in 2020, 60th in 2021, and 57th in 2022.

Among GCC countries, Qatar is second to the UAE, which is ranked 9th globally with visa-free access to 185 destinations. Kuwait is ranked 49th, Saudi Arabia 56th, Bahrain 57th, and Oman 58th, with visa-free access to 99, 88, 87, and 86 destinations respectively.

Singapore leads the index with visa-free access to 195 destinations. France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Spain share second place with 192 destinations. Austria, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, South Korea, and Sweden hold third place with 191 destinations. 

The UK is fourth, alongside Belgium, Denmark, New Zealand, Norway, and Switzerland, despite a decrease to 190 visa-free destinations. The US has fallen to eighth place, with access to 186 destinations visa-free, continuing a decade-long decline.

The report noted that the UK and the US jointly held first place on the index in 2014.

Afghanistan remains at the bottom of the list, with its citizens able to access only 26 countries visa-free, the lowest score in the index's 19-year history.

Dr. Christian H. Kaelin, Chairman of Henley & Partners and creator of the passport index concept, observed that “over the past two decades, the trend has been towards greater travel freedom, with the global average of visa-free destinations nearly doubling from 58 in 2006 to 111 in 2024. However, the mobility gap between the top and bottom of the index is now wider than ever, with Singapore having access to 169 more destinations visa-free than Afghanistan.”

China and Ukraine are among the top 10 countries that have risen the most in the rankings over the past decade.