Malaysian Passport is World’s 12th Most Powerful Passport, Ranking Higher Than UAE & Hong Kong

As a country, we have ranked pretty highly in terms of having some of the best universities and one of the best Covid-19 recoveries.

But what is often overlooked, is the fact that we have one of the most powerful passports in the world.

This was recently confirmed by the 2022 Henley Passport Index by Henley & Partners which is a London-based global citizenship and residence advisory firm.

In the first 2020 index, Malaysia has ranked 12th in the list whilst also being the 2nd best Southeastern Asian country and 4th best Asian country.

The Malaysian passport climbed one place from its last held rank back in 2021.

Singapore, along with Japan, holds the top most position in this list, whilst Germany and South Korea share 2nd place. The majority of the top 10 consisted of countries in Europe.

The citizens of Singapore and Japan have ‘visa-free’ access to 192 destinations, whilst Malaysians have 179.

The passport index which is updated every quarter of the year, is compiled using exclusive data from International Air Transport Association (IATA) and includes 199 different passports and 227 different travel destinations.

According to the Henley Passport Index methodology, visa-free also includes a visa on arrival, visitor’s permit, or an electronic travel authority (ETA) when entering the destination.

The index also notes that climate change and Covid-19 pandemic are continuously impacting mobility, with people looking to move to countries which are secure, stable and economically prosperous.

Excitingly enough, Malaysia holds a much more powerful passport in comparison to “bigger” countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico.

Do you agree with the ranking? Let us know in the comments.

Also read: Malaysia Ranks 13th Out of a Total of 120 Countries on Nikkei’s Covid-19 Recovery Index!