GCC states have most powerful passports in Arab world: Report

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), a regional, intergovernmental, political, and economic union comprising six Arab countries, have the most powerful passports in the Arab world, according to the latest report by the Henley Passport Index.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has the most powerful passport in the Arab world, according to the latest edition of the Henley Passport Index. It also ranked joint 12th with Cyprus out of 199 passports worldwide. 

The Henley Passport Index is based on data collected from the International Air Transport Authority, the trade association for all the airlines in the world. 

The UAE passport holders can travel to 179 out of 227 destinations visa-free. Dr. Christian H. Kaelin, chairman of Henley & Partners, said, “The UAE has added an impressive 107 destinations to its visa-free score since 2013, resulting in a massive leap of 44 places in the ranking over the past 10 years from 56th to 12th position worldwide.”

Among the GCC states, Kuwait ranked at 54th, Bahrain ranked at 59th, Oman ranked at 60th and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ranked at 61st. 

According to the index, Iraq has the weakest passport in the Arab world and the second-weakest in the world. Iraq passport holders can travel to only 29 destinations visa-free.

Of the 10 weakest passports in the world, Syria ranked at 101, Yemen and Somalia ranked at 99, and Palestine ranked at 98. 

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The global passport ranking for 2023 was conducted as the standard reference tool for global citizens and sovereign states. 

This year, Singapore has overtaken Japan to become the world’s most powerful passport. Singapore passport holders can travel to 192 destinations out of 227 in the world. Germany, Italy and Spain took the second spot. Japan took the third spot, allowing visa-free access to 189 destinations. Austria, Finland, France, Luxembourg, South Korea and Sweden also secured the third position.