Claim: The Pakistani passport’s ranking has improved significantly from 126th to 98th within the last one year, according to the Federal Minister Mohsin Naqvi.
Fact: From 2025 to 2026, the ranking jumped from 103 to 98 on the Henley Passport Index, suggesting no significant improvement. In fact, the number of countries allowing access to Pakistani passport holders without prior visa access dropped from 33 to 31 . Moreover, the Pakistani passport remains among the four weakest, along with Yemen, Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan.
On 15 January, Federal Minister Mohsin Naqvi claimed (archive) that the Pakistani passport’s ranking had improved from 126th to 98th, adding that it was “a strong achievement” and that “this momentum” would continue.
His X post included a Gulf News article from 14 January, titled “Pakistan passport climbs in 2026: Now ranks 98th worldwide with new visa-free access”.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check analysed the Gulf News report shared by Naqvi and found that it does not state that the Pakistani passport’s ranking improved from 126th to 98th. Instead, it reports that the ranking climbed from 100th last year to 98th in 2026 on the Henley Passport Index. It provides data on global passport rankings, “according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa”.
When Soch Fact Check looked into last year’s rankings on the index directly, we found that Gulf News had misreported Pakistan’s passport ranking, too. It was, in fact, 103rd in 2025 and not 100th as the report states.
Analysing this data revealed that Naqvi’s statement is false. Over the past 20 years, Pakistan’s passport has never ranked 126th in this database. The lowest ranking was 113th in 2021, and by 2026, it has steadily jumped to 98th.
However, an analysis of the Henley Passport Index shows that this improvement in ranking does not suggest that the passport has improved. For instance, Pakistan has consistently had access without a prior visa to at least 28 countries since 2016, according to the index, with a ranking hovering above 100. The access is either visa-free entry, “visa on arrival (VOA), a visitor’s permit, or an electronic travel authority (ETA) when entering the destination” (see “My Passport” section). This number of countries Pakistani passport holders could access without a prior visa went up to 33 in 2018 and then to 34 in 2024. However, it dropped back to 33 in 2025 again, and now stands at 31 in 2026, which suggests that the passport has become weaker instead.
Data by The Henley Passport Index.
Although the ranking jumped from 103rd in 2025 to 98th in 2026, the number of countries allowing access dropped from 33 to 31 on the Henley Passport Index, which does not suggest any “strong achievement”. In fact, Pakistan and Yemen’s passports rank as the fourth-weakest in 2026 (starting from the bottom of the list, following Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan.
In 2026, Pakistan’s passport ranks among the four weakest passports, after Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan.
Considering that Pakistan’s passport remained the fourth weakest on the database from 2025 to 2026, does not indicate any significant or strong improvement either. It debunks the federal minister’s claim that the passport’s ranking had improved.
Soch Fact Check, therefore, rates the claim false.
Virality
The post by the federal minister Mohsin Naqvi garnered over 309,100 views within 10 hours of posting and was liked 4,700 times.
The claim was also shared on X here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
GTV News shared the claim on X here.
On Facebook, it was shared here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Conclusion: The Pakistani passport went from ranking at 103 in 2025 to 98 in 2026 on the Henley Passport Index. Its ranking did not jump from 126 to 98, and, therefore, Federal Minister Mohsin Naqvi’s statement is misleading. It remains the fourth-weakest globally.
Background image in cover photo: Daily Times
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