Jamaica sits 56th in the world on the Henley Passport Index and third from bottom in CARICOM — behind eight Eastern Caribbean states with a fraction of its population. The number deserves scrutiny. So does the index that produced it.

MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica, Sept.9, 2026 - Few countries punch as far above their weight as Jamaica. Two-point-eight million people, a flag recognised on every continent, an accent that sells beer in Berlin, and a track team that stops the world every four years. Yet when a Jamaican presents that country’s passport at a foreign border, the document opens fewer doors than the one carried by a citizen of Dominica — population sixty-six thousand.