India has dropped six places to 90 on Henley & Partners’ world’s most powerful passport index, while Japan matched with Singapore for first place with a visa-free score of 192. Meanwhile, India’s visa-free score was 58, indicating that Indian passport holders are permitted to visit 58 countries without a visa.
The Henley Passport Index is the original ranking of all passports in the world based on the number of countries to which their holders can travel without a visa. The index is based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and has been upgraded by the research team at Henley & Partners. The score is released at a time when governments are gradually easing international travel restrictions that have been in place for over a year.
Germany and South Korea came in second and third, respectively, while Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Pakistan, and Yemen ranked last on the list. According to Henley’s Q4 global mobility report, the global mobility gap is at its biggest point ever and continues to widen due to proliferating entry obstacles created since the pandemic’s inception.
International visitor travel restrictions have been eased for the first time in two years, having been imposed at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Countries’ passports are ranked by the number of visa-free places they allow their holders to visit. When compared to the previous year, India has dropped six spots. India’s ranking had fallen from 82nd in 2019 to 84th in 2020, as we had reported last year.
Japan and Singapore were ranked first and second, respectively, in the Henley Passport Index 2021, while India was ranked 90th, down six places from its ranking in 2020. After almost two years since the commencement of the Coronavirus epidemic, the Henley Passport Index 2021, which lists the world’s best travel-friendly passports, arrives at a time when countries throughout the world are loosening travel restrictions for overseas visitors.
