Daily TribuneThe country places higher on the Henley Passport Index with visa-free travel to 66 countries.
Photo by Alvin Kasiban
Over the past twenty years, the country's placement on the Henley Global Index has moved between a high of 62nd place in 2007 to 2009, to a low of 83rd in 2021.
Image from HenleyGlobal.com
Time to book that ticket, because your passport now let you travel visa-free to 66 countries. According to the latest ranking released by the Henley Global Index, the Philippines moved up to the 72nd spot, three points higher from 75th place in 2025.
Now that is good news for Filipinos who want to go and see more of the world. Countries like Brazil, Barbados, Indonesia, Morocco, Taiwan, Colombia, Cambodia, Mongolia, Paraguay, and Peru are among those who allow visa-free travel to Philippine passport holders, while The Maldives, Nepal, Tanzania (for that dream African safari), Oman, etc. offer visa on arrival.
Over the past two decades, the Philippines ranking on the Henley Passport Index has shifted significantly before finding itself back on an upward trend. It peaked at 62nd place in the years 2007 to 2009, with visa-free travel or visa on arrival to 81 destinations. That ranking later dipped to a low of 83rd place in 2021, at the height of the CoVid-19 pandemic, before climbing back up over the next five years. The country currently shares the 72nd spot on the list with Uganda.
The Henley Passport Index is an annual ranking of all passports based on their access to visa-free travel vis-a-vis those that require applying for a visa in advance. Cross-referencing 199 different passports and 227 destinations, the placement on the list is based on a point-system. One point is given for every country that does not require a visa, or allows for visa on arrival or an electronic visa, based on data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The more countries the passport has access to, the higher the score,
Singapore still holds the top spot on the global index, giving its citizens visa-free travel to 192 countries, followed by Japan, South Korea, and the United Arab Emirates in second place with access to 188 destinations. Other countries occupying the top ten spots on the list include Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Italy, and Spain, among others. The United States of America shares 10th place with Iceland.
