Sri Lanka passport ranked 93 in the world; Germany first

Thursday, 19 January 2017 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Sri Lanka passport has been ranked 93 in the world, behind countries like Bangladesh, Sudan, Nepal and Congo.

Germany take first place with a visa-free score of 157, closely followed by Singapore and Sweden which were both ranked second with a visa-free score of 156.

The Passport Index devised by global financial advisory firm Arton Capital looks at three factors: The country’s visa-free score – which includes visa-free and visa on arrival; the visa-free portion of their score versus visa on arrival; and the United Nations Development Programme Human Development Index is used as a tie breaker.

A total of 199 passports, consisting of the 193 United Nations member countries and six territories – Taiwan, Macau (SAR China), Hong Kong (SAR China), Kosovo, Palestinian Territory and the Vatican – are considered for the index. Territories annexed to other countries, such as Norfolk Island, the French Polynesia and British Virgin Islands who do not issue their own passports are not considered as destinations, the index said. (Colombo Gazette)