Indian Passport: In a significant boost for Indian travelers, the Henley Passport Index 2024 has ranked the Indian passport at the 82nd position, granting citizens visa-free access to 58 foreign destinations. Notable tourist spots like Indonesia, Maldives, and Thailand are among the countries that Indian passport holders can now visit without the hassle of securing a visa. This ranking places India alongside Senegal and Tajikistan.
Global Passport Rankings
Singapore has claimed the title of the world's most powerful passport, offering its citizens visa-free entry to an impressive 195 countries. Following closely, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, and Japan hold the second spot, with visa-free access to 192 destinations each.
Austria, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, South Korea, and Sweden share the third position, with their passports granting visa-free entry to 191 countries. The United Kingdom, alongside New Zealand, Norway, Belgium, Denmark, and Switzerland, ranks fourth, offering visa-free access to 190 destinations. Australia and Portugal jointly occupy the fifth spot, allowing travel to 189 countries without a visa.
Interestingly, the United States has slipped to the eighth position, now enabling its citizens to travel visa-free to 186 countries.
Overall, a total of 34 countries make up the top 10 most powerful passports in the world.
India's Improved Standing
India's improved rank of 82nd on the list allows its citizens to travel visa-free to 58 countries, including notable destinations such as Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. In contrast, neighboring Pakistan is positioned at 100th, providing passport holders access to 33 countries. At the bottom of the list is Afghanistan, with visa-free access to just 26 destinations.
Henley Passport Index Insights
The Henley Passport Index derives its rankings from data provided by the International Air Transport Authority (IATA). The index considers that passport holders meet all basic entry requirements, are adult citizens traveling alone, and seek entry for tourist or business purposes for short stays. It excludes complex scenarios like diplomatic travel, emergency or temporary passports, and transit stays.
Christian Kaelin, chair of Henley and Partners, highlighted the growing disparity in global mobility. "The global average number of destinations travelers can access visa-free has nearly doubled from 58 in 2006 to 111 in 2024. However, the global mobility gap between those at the top and bottom of the index is now wider than it has ever been," he remarked.
For the past 19 years, the Henley Passport Index has been tracking global freedoms in 227 countries and territories, using exclusive data from the IATA. It has become the most popular interactive online tool to display, sort, and rank the world's passports, updated in real-time as visa policies change.
Indian travelers can now look forward to more convenient international journeys as their passport continues to climb the ranks of global mobility.
Here's the list of 58 destinations Indian citizens can travel visa-free:
- Angola
- Barbados
- Bhutan
- Bolivia
- British Virgin Islands
- Burundi
- Cambodia
- Cape Verde Islands
- Comoro Islands
- Cook Islands
- Djibouti
- Dominica
- Ethiopia
- Fiji
- Grenada
- Guinea-Bissau
- Haiti
- Indonesia
- Iran
- Jamaica
- Jordan
- Kazakhstan
- Kenya
- Kiribati
- Laos
- Macao (SAR China)
- Madagascar
- Malaysia
- Maldives
- Marshall Islands
- Mauritania
- Mauritius
- Micronesia
- Montserrat
- Mozambique
- Myanmar
- Nepal
- Niue
- Palau Islands
- Qatar
- Rwanda
- Samoa
- Senegal
- Seychelles
- Sierra Leone
- Somalia
- Sri Lanka
- St. Kitts and Nevis
- St. Lucia
- St. Vincent and the Grenadines
- Tanzania
- Thailand
- Timor-Leste
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Tunisia
- Tuvalu
- Vanuatu
- Zimbabwe