KUALA LUMPUR (March 3): The Malaysian passport has been ranked as 42 on a list published by the tax and immigration consultancy Nomad Capitalist, with a total score of 99.50.

In the latest Nomad Passport Index Ranking, the Malaysian passport ranking relative to other global passports is calculated by relying on the government’s approach not just to travel, but also to international taxation laws, global perception, dual citizenship, and personal freedom.

Nomad said for the Malaysia Travel score calculation, we relied on publicly available passport data and news sources to rank travel access.

The firm calculated the travel scores by summing up visa-free, visa on arrival, and electronic travel authorisation (eTA) countries.

“Based on that data, we assigned Malaysia a travel score of 167, as there are 116 countries that Malaysian passport holders can enter without a visa (i.e. visa-free countries), 45 countries that allow Malaysia passport holders to enter by obtaining a visa on arrival (i.e. visa-on-arrival countries), and six eTA destinations.

“Altogether, Malaysia passport holders can enter a total of 167 destinations — either without a visa, through a visa on arrival, or via an eTA.

“Separate from these 167 destinations, there are 83 additional destinations which Malaysia passport holders either need a physical visa to enter, or an eVisa,” said Nomad.

For the Malaysia Taxation score calculation, Nomad said it relied on data from a network of tax vendors, news sources, and tax authorities themselves.

“We assigned the lowest score of 10 to countries that tax citizens, no matter where they live; scores of 20 or 30 to countries that allow citizens to relocate to avoid tax, 40 to those that don’t tax foreign incomes of resident citizens, and 50 to countries with zero tax.

“Based on that data, we assigned Malaysia a taxation score of 40, meaning that Malaysia doesn’t tax foreign incomes of resident citizens,” it said.

For the Malaysia Freedom score calculation, Nomad said it relied on data and news reports on mandatory military service, government surveillance, press freedom and other factors to determine the personal freedom of citizens, travelers and expats, with scores from 10 being the least free and 50 being the freest.

“We assigned the scores of 10 and 20 to countries whose citizens have low freedom, scores of 30 and 40 to countries whose citizens have intermediate freedom, and 50 to countries whose citizens have total freedom.

“Based on that data, we assigned Malaysia a freedom score of 30, meaning that Malaysian citizens have intermediate freedom,” it said.

Meanwhile, the index ranks Luxembourg as the top passport in the world for aspiring global citizens. 

The top 10 rankings remained unchanged from last year, with the half-point difference between No. 1 Luxembourg and No. 2 Sweden.

Nearly 85% of the places in the top 30 list are in Europe.