India passport ranking improves, jumps five spots in Henley Passport Index

Singapore replaced Japan to become the country with the most powerful passport. India also jumped five positions, ranking 80th. Indians can travel to 57 destinations without any visa

Henley Passport Index released its latest passport rankings on Tuesday. India has jumped five spots from last year's position to the 80th spot. Indians do not need any visa to travel to 57 destinations now.

According to the Henley Passport Index, Singapore was ranked as having the world's most powerful passport, defeating Japan, which allows it to travel to 192 destinations without any visa. 

India made a significant jump in the Passport Index this year. Indians are now allowed visa-free access and visa-on-arrival to many countries which include Indonesia, Thailand, Rwanda, Jamaica, and Sri Lanka. India still needs a visa to visit other 177 destinations across the world, these countries include China, Japan, Russia, the United States, and European Union countries.

Japan dropped to the third position after five years as the number of destinations the country’s citizens can go without a visa fell.

Decades ago, the United States topped the chart and now holds the eighth position. The United Kingdom, after a Brexit-induced slump, jumped two places to grab fourth position after 2017.

Afghanistan holds the last rank in the passport index with easy access to only 27 destinations.

In recent years, the Passport Index has emerged as the most popular online tool that displays, sorts and ranks all the world's countries based on their passports.

The credit for Henley Passport Index goes to Dr, Christian H. Kaelin, who created the Index, which is based on data provided by the International Air Transport Authority (IATA) covering 199 passports and 227 travel destinations.

The methodology of the Henley Passport Index is different from other passport indexes like the one published by financial advisory Arton Capital, which put the United Arab Emirates in pole position last year.