Passport holders can travel visa-free to nine countries

Dubai: Pakistan’s passport has slipped to 183rd place globally in 2026, according to the latest Passport Reports ranking, reversing the modest improvement recorded over the previous two years.

The Pakistani passport has a Mobility Score of 42, meaning passport holders have access to 42 destinations through a combination of visa-free entry, visa-on-arrival facilities and electronic travel authorisations (eTAs).

However, the figure does not mean Pakistanis can travel to 42 countries without a visa. According to Passport Reports, only nine destinations currently offer visa-free access to Pakistani passport holders.

A further 29 destinations provide visas on arrival, while four offer access through an eTA. Travellers, therefore, have some form of facilitated entry to a total of 42 destinations, while 156 destinations require a visa to be obtained before travel.

The nine visa-free destinations listed in the report are Barbados, Dominica, The Gambia, Haiti, Micronesia, Rwanda, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and Vanuatu.

A sharp reversal

The latest ranking represents a significant setback after Pakistan’s passport had shown some improvement. The latest ranking puts Pakistan among the world's lowest-ranked passports, with only Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan ranked lower.

Pakistan was ranked 180th in 2023, before moving up to 175th in 2024 and 174th in 2025. It has now fallen to 183rd in 2026.

The Mobility Score has followed a similar pattern. It rose from 36 in 2020 to 47 in 2023, remaining at 47 in 2024, before declining to 44 in 2025 and 42 this year.

The figures show that the passport’s position has fluctuated considerably over the past seven years. Although the ranking improved by five places between 2023 and 2024 and another place in 2025, the nine-place fall in 2026 is the largest year-on-year decline in the period shown.

The longer-term picture is also mixed. Pakistan’s 2026 ranking is 14 places lower than its 2020 position of 169th, despite the Mobility Score being six points higher than it was in 2020.

How it works

Passport Reports uses the Mobility Score to measure the number of destinations where travellers can enter without obtaining a conventional visa in advance.

For Pakistan, the 2026 score breaks down as:

• 9 destinations: visa-free

• 29 destinations: visa on arrival

• 4 destinations: eTA

• 156 destinations: visa required

This distinction is important because visa-free travel is generally the strongest form of passport mobility. Visa-on-arrival access still allows travellers to avoid obtaining a visa before departure, but they must normally complete immigration procedures and meet the destination’s entry requirements on arrival.

An eTA is another form of facilitated travel, but it is not the same as visa-free entry. Travellers normally need to obtain electronic authorisation before boarding.

What it means

On the basis of the Passport Reports figures, Pakistan’s passport has not improved in 2026. In fact, its global ranking and Mobility Score have both deteriorated compared with 2025.

The passport’s best ranking in the seven-year table was 174th in 2025, while its highest Mobility Score was 47, recorded in both 2023 and 2024. The latest figures, therefore, point to a reversal of the gains made between 2022 and 2025.

For Pakistani travellers, the practical picture remains challenging: 156 of the destinations covered by the index still require a visa to be obtained before travel, while only nine destinations provide completely visa-free access.

Ranking

Passport rankings can vary between indexes because different organisations use different methodologies and may classify visa-on-arrival, eTA and other forms of facilitated entry differently. The figures above specifically reflect the methodology and data published by Passport Reports.