Southeast Asia's 2nd most powerful passport returns to its highest ranking ever

In March, Malaysia's passport jumped three places to rank sixth most powerful globally, but slipped to the seventh place in June.

Malaysian passports. Photo courtesy of the official portal of the Sarawak government

In Southeast Asia, Malaysia's passport was the second most powerful after Singapore's, which is the world's most powerful, allowing visa-free entry to 193 destinations, followed by Japan, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates that shared the second position.

Analysts note that passport strength reflects not only ease of travel but also how the international community assesses a country's governance capacity, credibility, and diplomatic effectiveness, Travel and Tour World reported.

Malaysia introduced a new passport on July 1 with a 10-year validity period, reducing the need for frequent renewals, Malay Mail reported.

The updated passport features enhanced security measures, including guilloche patterns, latent images, rainbow printing, line width modulation, holograms and ultraviolet printing. Its pages also feature distinctive illustrations of historical landmarks across Malaysia, which can only be seen under ultraviolet (UV) light.

The Henley Passport Index tracks global travel freedom across 227 countries and territories, using exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

It ranks 199 passports based on the number of destinations their holders can enter without obtaining a visa in advance. Updated regularly throughout the year to reflect changes in visa policies, the index is widely regarded as a key measure of global mobility.