India ranks 80th in Henley Passport index with 57 visa-free countries

Indian passport's rank improved to 80 from 87 last year

India has occupied the 80th spot in the Henley Passport Index 2023, which ranks nations based on the visa-free access available for travel on their respective passports. At present, Indian passport holders can arrive in 57 countries without a prior visa.

India's rank is currently tied with West African countries Senegal and Togo. The rankings, released on July 18 by migration consultancy firm Henley & Partners, are based on the data shared by the International Air Transport Association.

Year-on-year, the Indian passport has gained strength, as the country's ranking in the Henley Passport Index 2022 stood at 87.

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Henley has also released an openness index, which ranks countries based on the visa-free access they provide for international travellers. India, along with Libya, Bhutan, Eritrea and Equatorial Guinea, is in the second-last spot as it provides visa-free arrival to passport holders from only five countries.  At the bottom are Afghanistan, North Korea, Papua New Guinea, and Turkmenistan, which score zero for permitting no visa-free access for any passport.

Where Indians can travel visa-free?

As per the Henley Passport Index, Indian passport holders can travel to a total of 57 countries without a visa. This includes Iran, Jordan, Oman and Qatar in the Middle East; and Bolivia and El Salvador in South America.

The list further includes Cook Islands, Fiji, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Niue, Palau Islands, Samoa, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu in the Oceania region; and  Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Dominica Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean.

Among Asian countries, Bhutan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Laos, Macao (SAR China), Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Timor-Leste offer visa-free arrival to Indian passport holders.

The largest number of countries in the list belong to Africa, including  Burundi, Cape Verde Islands, Comoro Islands, Djibouti, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Madagascar, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia and Zimbabwe.

Notably, the list does not include any of the countries in Europe and North America, which are among the most-preferred travel destinations for Indians.

Which are the 5 strongest passports?

Singapore has topped the Henley Passport Index this year, knocking off Japan from the top spot for the first time in five years. The Singaporean passport provides visa-free travel access to a total of 192 countries.

Germany, Italy, and Spain moved up to the second rank with visa-free access to 190 destinations, and Japanese passport holders join those of six other nations — Austria, Finland, France, Luxembourg, South Korea, and Sweden — in third place with access to 189 destinations without a prior visa.

The UK has turned the corner after a six-year decline, jumping up two places on the latest ranking to fourth place — a position it last held in 2017. British passport holders have visa-free access to 188 countries. Belgium and the Czech Republic share the fifth rank with access to 187 countries without obtaining a visa before arrival.

The US, on the other hand, continues its decade-long slide down the index, plummeting a further two places to the eighth spot with access to 184 destinations visa-free. Both the UK and the US jointly held 1st place on the index nearly 10 years ago in 2014 but have seen their ranks slip since then.

Afghanistan remains entrenched at the bottom of the Henley Passport Index, with a visa-free access score of just 27, followed by Iraq (29), and Syria (30) — the three weakest passports in the world.