Henley Passport Index 2024 is now live, which ranks the strongest passports worldwide. It ranks the strongest passports on the basis of the number of countries it provides visa free entries into. According to the Index, France ranks at the top of the list, allowing visa-free entries into 194 countries worldwide. In the same list, India slipped down one place from 84th last year to 85th this year, even though the Indian passports allows visa-free entry into 62 countries as compared to 60 last year.
The strength of any countries passport also shows how influential it is in the world as a soft power. The strength of the passport is determined by how many countries does it provide a visa free access to. Along with France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Singapore, and Spain occupied the top spot with unrestricted access to 194 countries. Finland, South Korea and Sweden were at the second place with 193 visa free destinations. The US passport has also become stronger this year compared to last year. Last year America was at 7th place but this year it jumped to 6th place.
India drops in ranking despite visa-free entry into 2 additional countries:
India's passport has slipped one place in 2024 compared to last year. India was ranked 84th in the Henley Passport Index last year, but this year it has come down to 85th position. India's decline in ranking is a bit surprising because last year, while Indian passport holders could travel visa free to 60 countries, this year the number of visa free countries has increased to 62. Recently, Iran announced visa free entry for Indian tourists. Indian tourists can avail visa-free tourism in Iran for 15 days. Malaysia, Thailand and Sri Lanka are also among those countries which have announced visa free entry for Indians some time ago.
Neighbouring countries’ rank:
Talking about Pakistan's ranking, it retains it’s 106th position from last year. India's neighboring country Bangladesh has also fell down one place from last year, from 101st to 102nd position. The passport of India's maritime neighbor, Maldives remains as strong as ever ranking 58th. The Maldivian passport holders can travel visa free to 96 countries.
While China's passport was at 66th place in the year 2023, this year it jumped up to 64th place. China in return had to give visa free entry to many European countries to revive their tourism following the Covid epidemic.
Who is at the bottom?
Afghanistan remains at the bottom position in Henley passport ranking. Afghanistan has been continuously lagging behind other countries under the Taliban rule and its passport has also been performing the worst. Afghanistan's passport is at the bottom i.e. 109th position with 28 visa free destinations.
How are the passports ranked?
According to their website, Henley Passport Index have the data of last 19 years of passports of different countries. It says on the website that 'The Henley Passport Index is the only index of its kind based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Authority (IATA)’. The index includes 199 different passports and 227 different travel destinations. According to the website, the index is updated monthly. Henley Passport Index data shows that there has been a significant change in global mobility in the last two decades. In the year 2006, people could travel visa free to an average of 58 countries, but this year this number has almost doubled to 111 countries.