Henley Passport Index: India rises to 75th, visa-free destination

India's passport ranks 75th in the Henley Passport Index, offering visa-free access to 56 countries, despite losing one destination.

India recorded the 75th most powerful passport in the world’s most powerful passport list, enabling visa-free travel access to 56 countries, revealed a latest report on Global Passports Index by Henley and Partners. Indian passport made an upward momentum of 10 rank in comparison to 2025’s position at 85. Despite the growth, India will see a reduction of one country in visa-free travel this year.

Significantly, India’s rank is shared by four countries such as Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Madagascar, and Mauritania.

A passport index reflects a country’s strength in foreign policy, as well as its order in global politics. Since the Henley Passport Index began, around mid-2000s, Singapore, Japan, Germany, and Western-European countries, including France, Italy, and Spain, have dominated the rankings.

In an interesting shift, countries such as U.S. and U.K. are no longer top contenders in Henley Passport Index, leaving space to Western-European countries and Nordic countries such as Finland, Sweden, and Netherlands to join the elite club.

Last year, India’s rank stood at 85, facilitating visa-free travel to 57 countries.

The Henley Passport Index, prepared by Henley and Partners, ranks 199 passports and 227 travel destinations, sharing a comprehensible outlook to users about how many countries they can travel without securing a passport. The ranking is finalised based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).