TBM Staff - Mumbai Singapore now occupies the top spot on the Henley Passport Index as the world’s most powerful passport in 2023 with visa-free access to 192 travel destinations.
Japan, the previous top rank holder, slipped down to the third rank, according to the new list released on July 18.
With visa-free access to 190 destinations, three European countries – Germany, Italy and Spain – share the second rank on the list. Japan, meanwhile, lost the top spot for the first time in five years. Japan shares the rank with Austria, Finland, France, Luxembourg, South Korea and Sweden.
As for India, it ranks 80 on the list. The Indian passport shares the spot with Senegal and Togo, with visa-free access to 57 destinations. With 101, 102 and 103 ranks respectively, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan are the world’s weakest passports. Pakistan is on the 100th spot.
The Henley Passport Index compares the visa-free access of 199 different passports to 227 travel destinations. If no visa is required, then 1 score is created for that passport. The same applies if you can obtain a visa on arrival, a visitor’s permit, or an electronic travel authority (ETA) when entering the destination.
After a six-year decline, the UK jumped up two places to grab fourth place. It last held the position in 2017. “The US, on the other hand, continues its now decade-long slide down the index, plummeting a further two places to eighth spot with access to just 184 destinations visa-free,” Henley and Partners mentioned in the press release.
Both the UK and the US jointly held first place on the index nearly 10 years ago in 2014, but have been on a downward trajectory ever since. (Source India Today)
