Islamabad [Pakistan], January 13 (ANI): The Pakistani passport has been ranked as the fourth worst passport for international travel for the third consecutive year, local media reported citing the report by the Henley Passport Index 2022 on Thursday.

According to the report, Pakistani passport holders have visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 31 destinations around the world.

The Henley Passport Index, which is a ranking of all the world's passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa, placed Pakistan on the 108th position. HenleyPartners firm's "Henley Passport Index" has been regularly monitoring the world's most travel-friendly passports since 2006, The News International reported.

"The increasing travel barriers that have been introduced over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic have resulted in the widest global mobility gap in the index's 16-year history," said the report.

The index doesn't take temporary restrictions into account, so leaving actual current travel access aside, holders of the passports at the top of its ranking -- Japan and Singapore -- are able, in theory, to travel visa-free to 192 destinations, The News International reported.

That's 166 more destinations than Afghan nationals, who sit at the bottom of the index of 199 passports, and can access just 26 countries without requiring a visa in advance.

Further down the top 10, the rankings remain virtually unchanged as we enter the first quarter of 2022. South Korea is tied with Germany in second place (with a score of 190) and Finland, Italy, Luxembourg and Spain are all together in third place (with a score of 189), the Pakistani publication reported.

It further reported that the EU countries dominate the top of the list as usual, with France, Netherlands and Sweden climbing one spot to join Austria and Denmark in fourth place (with a score of 188). Ireland and Portugal are in fifth place (with a score of 187). The United States and the United Kingdom, which held the top spot together back in 2014, have regained a little ground. (ANI)