Qatar maintained its position as the world’s 47th most powerful passport in the latest quarterly update of the Henley Passport Index. The updated rankings, published on July 22, assessed 199 passports worldwide based on visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 227 destinations.

Qatari passport holders can travel to 112 destinations around the world without applying for a visa. The Qatari passport was also the second most powerful in the Middle East, after the UAE (8th globally), which allows its citizens to travel to 184 world destinations without a visa.

Among other GCC nations, Kuwait ranked 50th (100 destinations), Saudi Arabia 54th (91), Bahrain 55th (90), and Oman 56th (88).

Globally, Asian countries generally led the rankings. Singaporean passport held first place, with visa-free access to 193 destinations. Japan and South Korea are joint second (190 each). Both the USA and UK dropped in rankings, with the former currently 10th (182 destinations) and UK 6th (186 destinations).

India recorded its strongest performance to date, jumping eight places to 77th with visa-free access to 59 destinations.

Afghanistan, at the bottom of the index, was ranked 99th with just 25 visa-free accessible countries. They were preceded by Syria (98th, 27) and Iraq (97th, 30).

The Henley Passport Index is compiled using data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and updated every quarter. It measures the ‘global mobility’ of passports by the number of destinations holders can visit without needing a pre-arranged visa.

“Your passport is no longer just a travel document, but a reflection of your country’s diplomatic influence and international relationships,” said Henley & Partners CEO Dr Juerg Steffe.

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