Henley Passport Index 2023: India moves up two spots to 85th place

While India has moved up from its spot at the 87th place on the list, it’s access to visa-free travel to countries has decreased by one

This year’s Henley Passport Index, released earlier in the month on January 10, puts India’s passport on the 85 th spot, moving it up two places from its position in 2022.

Based on data available from the International Air Transport Association, the index ranks passports of countries, “according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa.” With access to 193 countries, Japan tops the list as the world’s most powerful passport, while Afghanistan is ranked last in the list, its passport giving access to only 27 countries.

While India has moved up from its spot at the 87 th place on the list, it’s access to countries has decreased by one. In 2022 the Indian passport-holders enjoyed visa-free/visa-on-arrival travel to 60 countries, in 2023 this has come down to 59 countries.

When the first edition of the Henley Passport Index was published in 2006 India was ranked 71, with visa-free access to only 25 countries.

Henley & Partners, who prepare the index, have also assessed the passports based on how much of the global GDP can be accessed by the passport-holder. “By combining Henley Passport Index data and World Bank GDP data, the new research ranks all 199 passports in the world in terms of their Henley Passport Power (HPP) score,” the statement said.

Consequently, the strongest passport (Japan) allows visa-free travel to 193 countries (85% of the world), i.e. a gateway to 98% of the global economy. On the other hand, an Afghanistan passport allows the passport-holder to have visa-free access to only 1% of the world’s economy.

This ‘global mobility gap’ as the index calls it highlights how countries are “shut out of a shockingly wide breadth of opportunities for economic mobility and growth.”