Indian passport ranking improves

New Delhi, Jan 12: International Air Transport Association (IATA) data has revealed that the Indian passport has improved its ranking from number 90 to 83.

 

 

 

The emergence and spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, and fresh Covid-19 outbreak in several countries, have prompted world governments to impose restrictions on international air travel. Amid this, the Henley Passport Index is back with its rankings for the world's most powerful passports.

The latest report, Henley's first of the year, which is also for the first quarter of 2022, as always, ranks national passports in terms of their power, i.e., the number of destinations holders of a particular passport can visit without a prior visa. Just like last year, Japan and Singapore emerged as the joint toppers, followed by Germany and South Korea, which, too, retained their joint second spot. Similarly, in the reverse direction, Afghanistan and Iraq maintained first and second spots, respectively.

 

India, meanwhile, improved its ranking, jumping seven spots to 83 on the index, which takes into account 199 passports. Also, just like last year, Henley has not considered travel restrictions while compiling this latest list.

Here are the world's most powerful passports, with the number of countries holders can visit without prior visa in brackets:

 

Top 10: (1.) Japan, Singapore (192)

(2.) Germany, South Korea (190)

(3.) Finland, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain (189)

(4.) Austria, Denmark, France, Netherlands, Sweden (188)

(5.) Ireland, Portugal (187)

(6.) Belgium, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, UK, USA (186)

(7.) Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Greece, Malta (185)

(8.) Poland, Hungary (183)

'(9.) Lithuania, Slovakia (182)

(10.) Estonia, Latvia, Slovenia (181)

 

Bottom (less than 40 destinations): (1/111.) Afghanistan (26)

(2/110.) Iraq (28)

(3/109.) Syria (29)

(4/108.) Pakistan (31)

(5/107.) Yemen (33)

(6/106.) Somalia (34)

(7/105.) Nepal and Palestinian territories (37)

(8/104.) North Korea (39)

The rankings are based on the analysis of exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).