Malaysia’s passport ranks #13 globally


For more than a year, we have been staying at home and have not been travelling overseas due to travel restrictions implemented by the government in its effort to control the spread of Covid-19 in our country. Despite this, our passport has been ranked No. 13 in the global passport ranking by Henly & Partners, a leading company that specialises in residence and citizenship planning.


Malaysia’s passport rank moves up a spot in 2021


Malaysia's passport
Image credit: @coolgardy

The Henly Passport Index is an original and authoritative ranking of all passports in the world based on the number of countries people can visit without a prior visa.

It is said to be one of the most comprehensive rankings in the world as it uses data from the International Air Transport Authority (IATA) and combines it with extensive research and open-source online data before finalising the ranking of all passports.

Passports of all countries are ranked from the most powerful to the least, in decreasing order in an annual list published by the firm.

Inside the Malaysia's passport
Image credit: @farouq.johari

Last year, Malaysia was ranked No. 14 with access to some 178 countries with its passport in that list. This year, the Malaysian passport was ranked one spot higher at No. 13, with access to 179 countries.

It is also worth noting that Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Germany retained their top three rankings from last year. Japan ranked first with access to 193 countries, followed by Singapore in second place with 192. South Korea and Germany both shared the third spot with access to 191 countries each.

Other countries such as the US, UK, France, Canada, Australia, Spain, and Italy, among others, were in the top ten rankings as well. What’s also interesting is that Malaysia is one of the few Asian countries to be listed in the top 20 spots behind Japan, Singapore and South Korea.


Malaysia ranks #13 in the global passport index ranking


Although we can’t travel overseas for the time being, we hope the quality of Malaysia’s passport will continue to be improved and ranked higher. Hopefully, the pandemic will ease soon and people can start travelling as usual to their favourite destinations.

Read more here:


Cover image adapted from: @coolgardy and Henly & Partners

Drop us your email so you won't miss the latest news.