Japan enjoys world's most powerful passport; India ranks 85
The Henley passport index concept was invented 20 years ago and is the original ranking of all the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa
Japan has the world’s most powerful passport while Singapore and South Korea are at the second spot. India is ranked 85 among 199 passports.
Germany and Spain jointly occupy the third place in the list.
“The index includes 199 passports and 227 travel destinations, giving users the most extensive and reliable information about their global access and mobility,” the Henley Passport Index for 2023 said.
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With the Asia-Pacific region opening up again after the Covid-19 pandemic, Asian citizens are likely to start travelling in droves like before again.
Japan’s citizens enjoy visa-free or visa-on-demand access to 193 destinations, ahead of Singapore and South Korea whose citizens can travel to 192 countries without hassles.
Germany and Spain have visa free access to 190 destinations, followed by Finland, Italy and Luxembourg (189 countries).
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“The Henley Passport Index measures visa-free access to 227 destinations across the world, which of course makes it an extremely useful tool for travellers,” a statement said.
“However, for global citizens and international businesspeople, a better measure of economic mobility and opportunity afforded by their passports is an indication of what share of the world’s GDP is accessible to them visa-free.
“Our latest research into how much global economic access each passport provides is a useful tool for investors, in addition to giving new insight into the ever-widening economic inequality and wealth disparity that has come to define our world,” said Chairman of Henley & Partners, Dr. Christian H. Kaelin.
Dr. Kaelin had invented the passport index concept 20 years ago.
India’s ranking
India is ranked in the 85th position, giving visa-free entry for its citizens to 59 destinations worldwide. Nepal occupies the 103rd and Pakistan the 106th place, with visa-free access to 38 and 32 destinations respectively.