Indian passport has improved slightly its position to be ranked at 83rd place among 111 countries in the latest Henley Passport Index, released for Q1 of 2022. India had the 90th place among 116 countries in Q4 of 2021 in October.
As per Henley Passport Index, which analyses passports of different countries for their eligibility for visa-free access across the world, the Indian passport entitles holders to such access to 60 destinations worldwide in Q1 2022, as compared to 58 destinations in Q4 of 2021. The newly added countries for visa-free access are Oman and Armenia. Since 2006, India has added 35 destinations with visa-free access.
On a global level, Japan and Singapore have retained the joint top position in the Henley Global Mobility Report 2022 Q1. Their passport holders are eligible to enter visa-free to 192 countries. Afghanistan has the world's least powerful passports, with a visa-free score of 26.
The current rankings are for first quarter of 2022 and India shares the position with Sao Tome and Principe in Central Africa, behind Rwanda and Uganda.
India's passport rank had stood at 85 in 2016 along with Mali and Uzbekistan and 84 in 2020. In the latest index, the Pakistani passport has been ranked as the fourth worst for international travel for the third consecutive year, with visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 31 destinations around the world.
Since 2005, Henley Passport Index has been ranking world's passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without prior visa and is based on data from International Air Transport Association (IATA).
A statement by Henley and Partners said that in 2006 an individual could, on average, visit 57 countries visa-free. "Today, that number has risen to 107, but this overall increase marks a growing disparity between countries in the global north and those in the global south, with nationals from countries such as Sweden and the US able to visit more than 180 destinations visa-free, while passport holders from Angola, Cameroon, and Laos can only enter about 50," the statement said.