Mumbai: Singapore passport is the most powerful in the world whereas Japan has been knocked off the top spot on the Henley Passport Index for the first time in five years and bumped into 3rd place, according to the latest ranking 2023 released Wednesday.
The second spot in Henley Passport Index 2023 is shared by Germany, Spain and Italy.
Japan had shared the top spot in 2022 ranking. Its ranking however slided this year pushing the country to 3rd spot - the rank that it shares with six other countries - Austria, Finland, France, Luxembourg, Sweden and South Korea.
Henley Passport Index released the rankings for the year 2023, based on exclusive data provided by the International Air Transport Association.
Indian Passport which ranked 83 in 2022, improved its score but is still at 80th spot with a visa free score of 57.
India has improved its passport ranking by 10 spots since 2021 when its ranking was 90.
The UK appears to have finally turned the corner after a six-year decline, jumping up two places on the latest ranking to 4th place — a position it last held in 2017.
The US, on the other hand, continues its now decade-long slide down the index, plummeting a further two places to 8th spot with access to just 184 destinations visa-free.
Both the UK and the US jointly held 1st place on the index nearly 10 years ago in 2014 but have been on a downward trajectory ever since.
Among the Muslim countries, the most powerful passport is of Malaysia at 11th rank with a visa free score of 180.
The UAE has added an impressive 107 destinations to its visa-free score since 2013, resulting in a massive leap of 44 places in the ranking over the past 10 years from 56th to 12th position, having a visa free score of 179.
Among other OIC member, the passport rank of Brunei Darussalam is 20, that of Türkiye is 50, Qatar 52, Kuwait 54, Maldives 57, Bahrain 59, Oman 60, Saudi Arabia 61 (visa free score 83), Kazakhstan 66, Indonesia 69, Tunisia 70, Azerbaijan 72, Morocco and Sierra Leone 73, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan 78 and the passport rank of Pakistan is 100 which is world's 4th weakest passport.
Afghanistan remains entrenched at the bottom of the Henley Passport Index, with a visa-free access score of just 27, followed by Iraq (score of 29), and Syria (score of 30) — the three weakest passports in the world.
Updated quarterly, the Henley Passport Index is considered the standard reference tool for the global citizen and sovereign states for assessing passport rank on the global mobility spectrum.
It is the only passport index that is based on IATA data, enhanced by extensive in-house research, supported by expert commentary, and updated regularly throughout the year, making it the most robust, credible, and reliable index of its kind.
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