Despite boasting one of the region’s most improved mobility scores, Jamaica remains near the bottom of powerful Caribbean passports, only performing better than Suriname, Dominican Republic, Cuba and Haiti. 

According to the Henley & Partner’s 2023 Passport Index, Jamaica, with a mobility score of 86, ranks joint 65th in the world alongside fellow CARICOM neighbour Guyana. It is a marked improvement for Jamaica, which climbed 41 spaces over its ranking in 2022.

The index is determined by comparing the visa-free access of 199 different passports to 227 travel destinations.

Jamaica’s rank takes into consideration the 86 countries its citizens can travel without requiring a visa as well as those granted visas upon arrival. The 2023 iteration of the Henley & Partner’s Passport Index further noted that Jamaicans require a visa to travel to 90 countries.

Across the Caribbean, Barbados still reigns unopposed with the most powerful passport for the ninth-straight year. While repeating its 2022 mobility score of 163, Barbados climbed the global ranking to a new high of 21, up from the previous rank of 50 last year.

South Asian powerhouse Singapore now holds the distinction of having the world’s most powerful passport, with a mobility score of 192—dethroning five-year holders Japan.

With the exception of South Korea and Japan, the joint top three rankings are dominated by high-income European countries.

War-torn Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria each maintained their respective mobility scores of 27, 29, and 30 as the weakest passports globally.

A full breakdown of the Caribbean passport rankings are as follows: