TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The latest passport index by British consulting firm Henley & Partners ranked Taiwan as having the 32nd most powerful passport in the world in terms of the number of countries that provide its holders visa-free access.

The Henley Passport Index ranks countries based on the number of destinations their passport holders can access without a prior visa. The company says that it derives its data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which the firm claims "maintains the world’s largest and most accurate database of travel information."

In the firm's first-quarter listing for 2022, Taiwan ranked 32nd in the world, with access to 145 countries. Since the index began in 2006, Taiwan has been ranked as low as 69th, in 2010, and as high as 24th, in 2014.

In Asia, Taiwan ranks ninth behind Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Brunei, and Israel. Globally, Japan and Singapore tied for first place, with visa-exempt status for 192 countries, followed by Germany and South Korea, which tied for second.

Tied for the third spot were Finland, Italy, Luxembourg, and Spain, while fourth place was shared by Austria, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, and Sweden. Ireland and Portugal tied for fifth place with visa-exempt access to 187 countries.

China, on the other hand, trailed far behind in 64th place, one slot behind Papua New Guinea. Only 80 countries offer Chinese passport holders visa-free access, 65 fewer countries than Taiwanese are visa-exempt from.