Malaysian passport ranks at No 6 globally, and is equally powerful alongside passports from Ireland, Canada, and the United States.

The four countries share the same "visa-free score" of 154 in the latest Global Passport Power Rank 2017 by Arton Capital, a leading global advisory for residence and citizenship solutions.

Among Asian peers, Malaysia ranks at No 4 after Singapore, South Korea and Japan.

Paraguay removed visa requirements for Singaporeans, propelling Singapore’s passport to the top of the Passport Index’s most powerful ranking with a visa-free score of 159.

Historically, the Top 10 most powerful passports in the world were mostly European, with Germany having the lead for the past two years.

Since early 2017, the number one position was shared with Singapore, which was steadily going up.

“For the first time ever, an Asian country has the most powerful passport in the world,” according to managing director of Arton Capital’s Singapore office, Philippe May, on its website.

“It is a testament of Singapore’s inclusive diplomatic relations and effective foreign policy,” said May.

While Singapore quietly climbed the ranks, the US passport fell since US President Donald Trump took office, said the website.

Most recently, Turkey and the Central African Republic revoked their visa-free status to US passport holders, said the website, adding the Passport Index was the world’s reference on everything involving passports.

Developed by Arton Capital, the Passport Index has become the most popular interactive online tool to display, sort and rank the world’s passports.

The index ranks national passports by the cross-border access they bring, assigning a "visa-free score", according to the number of countries a passport holder can visit visa-free or with visa on arrival.

- Bernama