Henley Passport Index 2023: With visa-free access to only 59 destinations, India slips to 85th position

By: Anshul Vipat

According to Henley & Partners, the index includes 199 passports and 227 travel destinations, giving users the most extensive and reliable information about their global access and mobility.

Based on the data provided by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Henley Passport Index for the year 2023 was released by the London-based global citizenship and residence advisory firm Henley & Partners. It is the original ranking of all the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa. According to Henley & Partners, the index includes 199 passports and 227 travel destinations, giving users the most extensive and reliable information about their global access and mobility. The grading methodology for the index was created to provide consumers with a nuanced, realistic, and trustworthy picture of the strength of their passport. Each passport is graded according to how many places its owner can visit without a visa.

Talking about India, the research states that 59 countries around the world do not require a visa for entry, placing the Indian passport 85th in the list of the most powerful passports in 2023. Indian passport holders can travel visa-free to 59 destinations like Bhutan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Macao, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Kenya, Mauritius, Seychelles, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Iran and Qatar. 

Japan continues to hold the top spot on the list of strongest passports in the world, according to the survey published on January 10, 2023. Up to 193 nations around the world offer visa-free or visa-on-arrival entry to Japanese nationals. Afghanistan remains firmly at the bottom of the index, with a score of just 27 — 166 fewer visa-free destinations than Japan, which represents the widest global mobility gap in the index’s 18-year history. The second spot is shared by Singapore and South Korea and gives visa-free access destinations to 192 countries. With a visa-free score of 187, France, Ireland, Portugal, and the United Kingdom are tied for sixth place. With a visa-free score of 186, the United States, Belgium, New Zealand, Norway, Czech Republic, and Switzerland are tied for seventh place among the nations with the strongest passports worldwide.

Both Russia and Ukraine have maintained about the same positions "on paper" since the invasion started, indicating that the Ukraine war has not yet had a significant influence on their Henley Passport Index rankings. Ukraine is placed 36th with a score of 144, 13 spots ahead of Russia, which is now ranked 49th with a score of 118. However, Russian citizens are practically prohibited from travelling throughout the majority of the developed world as a result of airspace bans and sanctions.

Source: Henley Passport Index

India was ranked at the 82^nd spot on Henley Passport Index in 2019. It ranking dropped to 84^th in 2020 and further dropped to the 85^th position in 2021. India was able to improve its position in the year 2022 as India’s passport was ranked on the 83^rd position. But 2023 witnessed a new fall in India’s passport ranking as the country’s ranking dipped to 85^th position from 83^rd in 2022.

The new study evaluates all 199 passports in the world according to their Henley Passport Power (HPP) score, which denotes the proportion of global GDP that each passport gives to its holders' visa-free travel, by integrating Henley Passport Index data and World Bank GDP data. For instance, a Japanese passport grants visa-free travel to 193 locations (85 percent of the world). These nations collectively make up a staggering 98% of the world economy, with Japan contributing about 5 percent of it. This means that the Japanese nationals have access to around 98 percent of the world economy. 

Despite having the world’s fifth-largest economy, Indian passport holders can access just 59 destinations worldwide and only 6.7 percent of global GDP.