Indian passport 80th strongest, allows visa-free travel to 62 nations

Sandeep Dikshit

New Delhi, January 11

The Indian passport remains the 80th strongest in the world, the same as last year, according to the 2024 Henley Passport Index. However, the Indian passport now gives its holders visa-free access to 62 countries as against 57 in the 2023 Henley Passport Index. Two years ago, India was at the 87th spot.

However, India has a lot of catching up to do as the average number of destinations travellers are able to access visa-free in the latest Index is 111. In 2023, the average number of destinations travellers were able to access visa-free was 109.

The Henley Passport Index ranks all of world’s 199 passports to 227 travel destinations. Where a visa is required, a score of zero is given, and a score of one is given if the destination is a visa on arrival. Besides European countries, whose passports are much more powerful, several third world countries too have passports that allow visa-free entry to more countries than India. They include Malaysia (12th spot with visa free access to 182 countries) and South Africa (53rd place with visa-free access to 108 countries). Sanctions-hit Russia is in the 51st spot with visa-free access to 119 countries.

Passport holders of Pakistan have access to only 34 countries and its passport is ranked 101.

Six countries start 2024 with the world’s most powerful passport. The countries are France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Singapore and Spain, whose passport allows visa-free entry to 194 global destinations. Last year, only Singapore occupied the top slot with its passport giving access to 189 destinations without a prior visa while Germany, Italy, and Spain were in the second place.