The world’s strongest passport is Japan. India’s rank is…
As countries start recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic and re-open borders with a view to encourage travel, several Asian countries have climbed the chart this times.
Written by Sharmita Kar | Edited by Chandrashekar Srinivasan
Japan, Singapore and South Korea have topped the Henley Passport Index – which uses exclusive data from the International Air Transport Authority – to rank 199 passports. The Asian giants’ top ranking reverses pre-pandemic rankings dominated by European nations.A Japanese passport provides visa-free access to 193 countries, one more than those from Singapore and South Korea. Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February, is ranked 50th, with access to 119 nations. Ukraine is ranked 35th with access to 144 nations.China is placed 69th with access to 80 countries.India is 87th and Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan bring up the rear. The Taliban-ruled country’s passport offers hassle-free access to only 27 countries.The index defines the strength of diplomatic relations of any one country with others; essentially, the more one country has ‘ease of access’ to others, the higher its ranking.Here’s a list of top 10 and bottom 10 countries on the Henley Passport Index 2022:Top 10 countries
RankName of CountryVisa-free score1Japan1932Singapore, South Korea1923Germany, Spain1904Finland, Italy, Luxembourg1895Austria, Denmark, Netherlands, Sweden1886France, Ireland, Portugal, United Kingdom1877Belgium, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, United States1868Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Greece, Malta1859Hungary18310Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia182
Bottom 10 countries
RankName of CountryVisa-free score103Dem. Rep. of Congo, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Sudan42104Bangladesh, Kosovo, Libya41105North Korea40106Nepal, Palestinian Territory38107Somalia35108Yemen34109Pakistan32110Syria30111Irag29112Afghanistan27
The index helps wealthy individuals and governments assess the value of citizenships around the world, based on which passports offer the most prolific visa-free, or visa-on-arrival access. However, with global travel yet to fully recover from Covid restrictions, the index offers only a notional snapshot of the best documents to hold as of this quarter.
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