Last year, the Malaysian passport ranked eighth place according to the World Economic Forum (WEF).
But now Arton Capital, a financial advising firm has come out with another index which puts the Malaysian passport in the fifth place in a list of the most ‘powerful’ passports in the world.
Source: siasat.com
The index features 193 countries and six territories, where the main deciding factor is how many countries can a passport holder visit without needing a visa or on a visa-on-arrival basis (while WEF ranked based on countries without needing a visa only). The numbers are compared and the United Nations Development Programme Human Development Index is used as a tie-breaker if the need arises.
Malaysia shares the fifth spot with Canada, Ireland and New Zealand with a Visa-Free Score (VFS) of 154. Malaysian passport holders will be delighted to know that they can travel to 117 countries without a visa and get a visa-on-arrival for 37 other countries. Holidays, here I come!
The Arton Capital Passport Index also ranks Singapore at second place in the list with a total VFS of 157 alongside Sweden, while the most powerful passport in the world goes to Germany, with a VFS of 158. A German passport holder can enjoy travelling to 124 countries visa-free and 34 visa-on-arrival countries.
At the bottom of the list is Afghanistan which only gets a VFS of 23 and places at the 98th spot.
Now… Time to start planning for this year’s vacation!
