The world’s most powerful passports: Where does India stand?

A new quarterly report released by a London-based immigration consultancy Henley & Partners has ranked Japan as the country that has the world’s most powerful passport.

Even as the world is recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, Japan and Singapore (which is ranked second) have topped the chart of being the two most powerful passports in the Henley passport index. As per the index, Japanese citizens can travel to as many as 193 destinations either without a visa or by providing a visa upon arrival.

Meanwhile India has slightly improved its rank and is currently placed at 87^th in the second quarter of 2022 from 90^th in 2021, according to a Mint report.

The index uses 17 years’ worth of data that helps individuals and governments to gauge the value of citizenships around the world based on which passport offers easy visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to other countries.

What makes a passport powerful?

For a country to rank the highest in the passport index, it has to allow a passport holder to travel without a visa, with a visa-on-arrival or with a visa in advance. The world’s most powerful passports are the ones that offer the greatest travel freedom to people.

Apart from assessing how travel-friendly a passport is, the passport index also considers the investment index and the quality of life. The rankings are based on real-time, visa restrictions and entry requirements, according to an Indian Express report.

Top 10 world’s most powerful passports

These are the countries that topped the list of most powerful passports in the world.

1. Japan (193 destinations)
2. Singapore and South Korea (192 destinations)
3. Germany and Spain (190 destinations)
4. Finland, Italy and Luxembourg (189 destinations)
5. Austria, Denmark, Netherlands and Sweden (188 destinations)
6. France, Ireland, Portugal and UK (187 destinations)
7. Belgium, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland and United States (186 destinations)
8. Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Greece and Malta (185 destinations)
9. Hungary (183 destinations)
10. Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia (182 destinations)

Where does India stand?

India’s passport ranked 87^th in the passport index, offering visa-free access to 60 countries, including Bhutan, Nepal, Indonesia and Macau as opposed to 58 countries in 2021.

According to an Economic Times report, as many as 1,63,370 Indians surrendered their citizenship. Most people transferred their citizenships to United States (78,284), Australia (23,533), Canada (21,597) and UK (14,637).

Asian countries have barely featured in the top 10 list of powerful passports since 2017, according to a Bloomberg report. Also, since the pandemic, Asian countries have tread cautiously before opening their airways to other countries.

World’s least useful passports

There are several countries that offer access to only 40 or fewer destinations. These countries are placed in 105^th to 112^th ranks.

105. North Korea (40 destinations)

106.Nepal and Palestinian territory (48 destinations)

107. Somalia (35 destinations)

108. Yemen (34 destinations)

109. Pakistan (32 destinations)

110. Syria (30 destinations)

111. Iraq (29 destinations)

112. Afghanistan (27 destinations)

With inputs from agencies

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