Has Pakistani passport ranking improved in 2026?

The release of the 2026 Henley Passport Index has sparked debate over whether the Pakistani passport has improved or declined compared to the previous year.

The debate began after Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, in an X post, claimed that Pakistan's passport ranking improved from 126th to 98th in 2026.

According to the latest rankings compiled by the London-based immigration consultancy, Pakistan's travel document shares the 98th spot with Yemen, ranking higher than Iraq (99), Syria (100), and Afghanistan, which sits at the bottom at 101.

Last year, Pakistan ranked 103rd, out of 106 countries ranked, with a visa-free score of 33, meaning Pakistani passport holders could enter 33 destinations without a prior visa.

Although Pakistan appears at 98th place in the Henley Passport Index 2026, the number of destinations Pakistani passport holders can access visa-free declined from 33 in 2025 to 31 in 2026.

For further clarity on the issue, Geo Fact Check reached out to the Henley Passport Index. According to its spokesperson, an improvement in ranking does not necessarily reflect a stronger passport.

"Rankings are often affected by movement and consolidation across the rest of the list, so they should be viewed in context. The change in the visa-free score is a more accurate measure of how a passport's strength has evolved over the year," she explained.

She added that many passports worldwide lost access to certain destinations this year due to changes in visa policies and the introduction of eVisa systems.

Pakistani passport holders have free visa access to Barbados, Cook Islands, Dominica, Haiti, Micronesia, Montserrat, Rwanda, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and Vanuatu.

While a visa-on-arrival was available for Burundi, Cambodia, Cape Verde Islands, Comoro Islands, Djibouti, Guinea-Bissau, Madagascar, Maldives, Mozambique, Nepal, Niue, Palau Islands, Qatar, Samoa, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Timor-Leste, and Tuvalu.

Meanwhile, Singapore remains the world's most powerful passport for the third consecutive year, granting visa-free access to 192 destinations.

Japan and South Korea follow with 188, while Denmark, Luxembourg, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland share third place.