Malaysian passport 9th best in the world
BY PATRICK LEE
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PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s passport continues to be one of the world's best, with its citizens allowed to travel to 163 countries without a visa.
A global ranking known as the Henley & Partners Visa Restriction Index has pegged Malaysia as the ninth best out of a total of 219 destination countries, sharing a spot with Malta.
It has retained this position since 2013.
Similarly, Singapore -the only other Southeast Asian country to make the top ten list- kept its position at 6th place with its citizens able to travel to 167 countries without a visa.
Other Asian countries Japan (170) and South Korea (166) also made it into the top ten, attaining 4th and 7th place respectively.
Meanwhile, European countries Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom reached first place with its respective citizens able to travel to 173 countries without a visa.
US citizens were at second place, able to travel to 172 countries visa-free.
The worst country spots on the list were Pakistan and Somalia (91st), Iraq (92nd) and Afghanistan (93rd) with its citizens able to enjoy visa-free travel to only 32, 31 and 28 countries respectively.