Hong Kong passport places 18th in global power rankings

Within Asia, city falls behind Singapore, Japan, Malaysia and South Korea to take fifth place

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Scores are obtained by counting the number of countries each passport can access without visas or with visa-on-arrival arrangements. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

Published: 10:13am, 17 Jan 2017Updated: 10:16am, 17 Jan 2017

The Hong Kong passport is ranked 18th in the world in terms of visa-free access, according to an index gauging the “power” of such documents.

And within Asia, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) passport is placed fifth in Asia, behind those from Singapore, Japan, Malaysia and South Korea, but still ahead of passports for Taiwan, Macau and mainland China.

The document offers visa-free access to 139 countries or jurisdictions, according to the Passport Index, though this figure deviates from the Immigration Department’s official tally, which indicates visa-free access to 157 countries and territories as of October 28 last year.

Another passport commonly held by Hongkongers born before the handover – the British National (Overseas) or BNO passport – is exempt from visa arrangements for 189 jurisdictions.

Travel Industry Council executive director Joseph Tung Yao-chung warned however that BN(O) passport holders might not be recognised by British consulates overseas, as they were not considered British citizens. He strongly recommended that travellers carry a Hong Kong passport instead.

Hong Kong passport places 18th in global power rankings

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Within Asia, city falls behind Singapore, Japan, Malaysia and South Korea to take fifth place

Within Asia, city falls behind Singapore, Japan, Malaysia and South Korea to take fifth place