Oman improves rankings in Henley Passport Index

MUSCAT: The Sultanate of Oman Passport has improved its rankings in the Henley Passport Index 2026 to 57 from 59 in 2025. Oman's citizens can travel visa-free to 85 countries, including Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Barbados, Belarus, Bermuda, Botswana, Brunei, China, Colombia, Cook Islands, Dominica, Ecuador, Egypt, Georgia, Haiti, Hong Kong (SAR China), Iran, Jordan, Kosovo, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Macao, Malaysia, Mauritius, Pakistan, Philippines, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Singapore, Suriname, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, The Bahamas, Tunisia, Türkiye, Turks and Caicos Islands, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu and Zambia.
The index ranks all the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa. While a record number of passports now cluster at the top of the ranking, those at the bottom remain increasingly isolated, underscoring a widening global mobility gap, according to the report. Singapore retains its position as the world’s most powerful passport, offering access to 192 destinations visa-free. At the opposite end of the spectrum, Afghanistan once again ranks last, with its passport holders able to travel to just 24 destinations without a prior visa. The resulting 168-destination gap starkly illustrates the scale of global mobility inequality in 2026 — a dramatic widening of the divide since 2006, when the difference between the then top-ranking US passport and Afghanistan was only 118 destinations. “A record number of people are expected to travel in 2026. The unequivocal economic and social benefits generated by this travel grow as it becomes more accessible. But while more people have the economic freedom to travel, many nationalities are seeing that a passport alone is no longer sufficient to cross borders,' says IATA Director-General Willie Walsh.