The Passport Index 2021 ranking by Henley & Partners has just awarded Morocco 85th place out of 116 countries, a decline of nine places compared to last year. But in practice the kingdom only loses visa-free access to one state. For its part, Japan is still at the top of the podium.
The British firm Henley & Partners, specializing in international citizenship and residency advice, reports each year during the same period of its ranking of passports giving access to the best mobility. While Morocco performed relatively well last year, reaching 76th place (+1 from 2019), it has plummeted nine places this year.
A visa for the Cook Islands and Niue
In 85th place in the ranking of 116 countries, the kingdom gives access to 63 countries without a visa. Last year, the Moroccan passport gave access to 64 countries, ranked 76th out of 106 countries, ten countries less than this year.
Concretely, although Morocco has lost its attractiveness compared to the other countries on the list, it is in reality losing visa-free access to only “one country” compared to last year. These are the Cook Islands and Niue, two South Pacific states in Oceania, politically attached to New Zealand.
At the Maghreb level, Tunisia does better than Morocco and climbs to 78th place (access to 71 countries without a visa), while Algeria comes to 96th place, just before Egypt (97th). Libya ranks 108th.
The top 10 occupied by Asian and Western countries
The top 10 remains occupied by three Asian countries and Western countries. Japan and Singapore are tied for number 1 with access to 192 visa-free countries. Germany and South Korea sit side by side in second, while third place on the podium is split between Finland, Italy, Luxembourg and Spain.
France comes in 5th place (access to 187 countries), along with Portugal, Ireland, Sweden and the Netherlands.
The United States is only in 7th place, as are the Czech Republic, Greece, Malta, Norway and the United Kingdom. Australia and Canada share 8th place, Hungary is 9th, and in 10th place are Poland, Lithuania and Slovakia.
Among the bottom of the class, we find some countries of the MENA region, the Indian subcontinent and North Korea (109th place). We note Nepal and the Palestinian territories (110th), Somalia (111th), Yemen (112th), Pakistan (113th), Syria (114th), Iraq (115th), Afghanistan (116th).
Iran, Lebanon, Sri Lanka and Sudan are in 107th place with access to 41 countries.
