Indian passport now ranks higher than the previous year as per the latest report published by Henley Passport Index placing India's passport at the 80th spot, up five places from its position in 2022. The list stated that Indian nationals can now travel to 57 countries without a visa, as with people from Togo and Senegal. The Passport Index is an interactive online tool that displays, sorts, and ranks the world's passports. Currently, Singapore ranks highest in the index as the country's passport holders can freely visit 192 destinations.
Indian passport holders can avail of visa-free access and visa-on-arrival access to Indonesia, Thailand, Jamaica, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, and more while they need a visa to enter 177 destinations across the world including countries like the United States, China, Russia, Japan, and European Union Countries.
The 57 countries that Indians can travel visa-free to are:
- Barbados
- Bhutan
- Bolivia
- British Virgin Islands
- Burundi
- Cambodia
- Cape Verde Islands
- Comoro Islands
- Cook Islands
- Djibouti
- Dominica
- El Salvador
- Fiji
- Gabon
- Grenada
- Guinea-Bissau
- Haiti
- Indonesia
- Iran
- Jamaica
- Jordan
- Kazakhstan
- Laos
- Macao (SAR China)
- Madagascar
- Maldives
- Marshall Islands
- Mauritania
- Mauritius
- Micronesia
- Montserrat
- Mozambique
- Myanmar
- Nepal
- Niue
- Oman
- Palau Islands
- Qatar
- Rwanda
- Samoa
- Senegal
- Seychelles
- Sierra Leone
- Somalia
- Sri Lanka
- St. Kitts and Nevis
- St. Lucia
- St. Vincent
- Tanzania
- Thailand
- Timor-Leste
- Togo
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Tunisia
- Tuvalu
- Vanuatu
- Zimbabwe
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Singapore's Passport Most Powerful In The World, Pakistan's Is Fourth Weakest
Meanwhile, Singapore has replaced Japan with having the world's most powerful passport, allowing visa-free entry to 192 global destinations out of a total of 199.
After being the strongest passport for five years, Japan's ranking dropped to third place as the number of countries its passport can access without a visa decreased. Nearly a decade ago, the US topped the ranking but is currently in the eighth position with passport holders having visa-free access to 188 countries.
Asia has conventionally dominated the rankings in the index, but Europe is bouncing back with Germany, Italy, and Spain rising to the second spot, offering visa-free access to 190 destinations.
Notably, Pakistan has been ranked as having the fourth weakest passport in the world with access to 35 countries with an on-arrival visa facility until January this year, which has now come down to 33.
Violence-torn Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria are at the bottom of the list with easy access to 27, 29, and 30 countries respectively.
The Henley Passport Index, which ranks 199 passports based on International Air Transport Association (IATA) data, is regularly updated to reflect changes in visa policies. It was originally created by Dr. Christian H. Kaelin.
The average number of visa-free destinations, over the years, for travellers has nearly doubled from 58 in 2006 to 109, as per a statement.
"The general trend over the history of the 18-year-old ranking has been towards greater travel freedom, with the average number of destinations travellers are able to access visa-free nearly doubling from 58 in 2006 to 109 in 2023," a statement by Henley & Partners read.
However, there is a significant gap in travel freedom between the top-ranked and bottom-ranked countries.
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