Morocco’s passport ranks 80th worldwide and 12th in Africa, with a number of visa-free destinations far below those of each of Africa’s top 10 performers.
Rabat – Despite being the second most powerful passport of North Africa, ranking behind Tunisia’s, the Moroccan passport fares rather poorly at the global level. It ranks 80 worldwide and 12th in Africa, according to the 2020 Henley Passport Index.
“The ranking is based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which maintains the world’s largest and most accurate database of travel information, and enhanced by ongoing research,” according to the ranking’s official website.
The ranking is based on the number of visa-free destinations a passport boasts, and, in general, African countries are among the worst performers on that terrain. A few African countries, however, secured decent rankings.
Seychelles, the tiny East African country famous with tourists for its scenic islands and beautiful beaches, leads the continental rankings and ranks 27th at the global level; its boasts access to 151 visa-free destinations. Mauritius, another tiny East African country, comes second in Africa and 32nd worldwide, with access to 146 visa-free destinations.
The following spots are occupied by countries from the southern part of the continent, with South Africa leading that cohort with its 100 visa-free destinations.
Japan tops the global ranking with 191 visa-free destinations. This is the third time in a row that the “country of the rising sun,” as the Asian giant is often called, claims the top place of the world’s most powerful passports.
The Tunisian passport, 74th worldwide with 68 visa-free destinations, is the Maghreb’s most powerful. Morocco’s comes in second position, with a global rank of 80th and 63 visa-free destinations. The two are followed by Mauritania (84th and 63 visa-free destinations) and Algeria (92nd 50 visa-free destinations).
Singapore, Germany, South Korea, and Finland ranked second, third, and fourth, respectively.
The very bottom of the table is occupied by three countries from the Middle East (Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan), a poor performance that is mostly due to the conflicts in these parts of the world and the security risks consequently associated with nationals from there.
Below is the list of Africa’s top 10 and their global rankings:
Seychelles (27th)
Mauritius (32nd)
South Africa (53rd)
Botswana (62nd)
Namibia (68th)
Lesotho (69th)
Eswatini (70th)
Malawi (71st)
Kenya (72nd)
Tanzania and Zambia (73rd)
