India's passport rank jumps to 77 among 199 countries
The index, published by citizenship and residence consultancy firm Henley and Partners, measures the strength of all the passports around the world based on how many destinations can be accessed by the passport-holders of a specific country without a pre-departure visa.
India has recorded the largest jump in the rankings over the past six months, despite adding only two destinations to its visa-free tally. Indians can travel to 59 countries without a visa, as per the latest index.
Last year, Indian passport holders could travel to 62 countries without a visa, even though India ranked 80th on the list.
According to data available on the firm's website for years between 2006 and 2025, India ranked the lowest at 90 in 2021. Its best ranking was 71 in 2006.
In the latest index, India shared the 77th spot with Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire and Senegal.
Among India's neighbours, Pakistan stood at 96, which was a climb from its rank of 103 in January, and Bangladesh was at 94. It was 100 in January.
Singapore retained its top rank in the passport index. Citizens of the Southeast Asian city-state can travel to 193 nations without a pre-departure visa.
Japan and South Korea had the second-most powerful passports in the world, each granting their citizens access to 190 destinations visa-free.
The United States slipped to 10th place in the latest ranking, continuing a long-term downward trend. The US has fallen in the ranking every year since 2014, when its passport was ranked as the most powerful. It is now on the verge of falling out of the top 10 for the first time in the index's 20-year history.
The weakest passport remained that of Afghanistan, which is ranked 99. Afghan citizens can only visit 25 countries without a visa.
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