MANILA - The Philippines remained near the bottom rung while Singapore and Japan overtook Germany as the "most powerful" passport in the world, according to the 2018 Henley Passport Index.

The Philippines maintained its 75th rank out of 105 countries, with its passport holders able to enter 63 countries without a visa.

Singapore and Japan now have visa-free access to 180 countries, dethroning Germany, whose citizens have visa-free access to 179 countries.

Singapore and Japan ranked 4th and 5th in 2017, respectively while Germany topped the list since 2014.

The Afghanistan passport, meanwhile, was deemed as the weakest passport with visa-free access only to 24 countries.

The Henley Passport Index ranks passports worldwide based on data from the International Air Transport Association.

This year, the rankings included a total of 105 countries from 104 in 2017.