Philippine passport drops to 80th place in 2022 global ranking

The Philippine passport has dropped three places in the 2022 Global Passport Ranking of the global citizenship and residence advisory firm Henley & Partners. The list, which covers the third quarter of the year and looks at 199 passports around the world, puts the Philippine passport in 80th place.

In an earlier list released in January of this year, the Philippines landed in 77th place.

Henley & Partners gets its information from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), enabling them to rank the passports depending on how much mobility it provides its bearer.

Topping the list during the third quarter of the year is the Japanese passport, which gives its bearers access to 193 countries. Singapore, which previously topped the list alongside Japan, is now tied in second place with South Korea, with both providing access to 190 countries.

Rounding out the top five are Germany and Spain in third place, Finland, Italy, and Luxembourg in fourth, and Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Sweden in fifth place.

Germany fell to third after placing second in the previous list, while Italy and Luxembourg fell to fourth from third place. Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Sweden also fell from fourth to fifth place, while Ireland and Portugal are out of the top five entirely.

The United States passport, which previously topped the list in 2014, slid further down to seventh place. The previous list placed it at sixth place.

The Philippine passport actually allows its bearers to enter 67 countries during this quarter, up one country from the previous list, but passports of other countries had also gotten more powerful between the previous list and this one.

Still at the bottom of the list are the passports for Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria. The Afghan passport only allows visa-free entry to 26 countries, while the Iraqi and Syrian ones give its users access to 29 and 30 countries, respectively.

Loosening travel restrictions, such as South Korea allowing for visa-free entry to Jeju Island and Yangyang International Airport, may have contributed to the increased power of the passports on the list.

At the height of the global coronavirus pandemic, several countries issued travel bans and restrictions against specific countries that have not been faring well in the face of the pandemic.

While the Philippine passport can get you into certain countries without the need for a visa, vaccine certificates are a requirement for some of them.

CHECK OUT THE GALLERY BELOW FOR COUNTRIES THAT RECOGNIZE VAXCERTPH.