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In geopolitics, the strength of a country’s passport is a significant metric to measure its soft power. A strong passport allows citizens to freely travel across the globe without requiring a visa. Henley Passport Index ranks nations based on the strength of their passports and in 2024, France topped the list, as its passport provides visa-free access to 194 countries.
Germany, Italy, Japan, Singapore, and Spain are the other countries that are standing alongside France on the top.
India slipped one rank down from last year to 85th even as the countries with visa-free access to its citizens increased to 62 from 60 in 2023. The rank of crisis hit Pakistan stood the same as last year on 106 while Bangladesh’s slipped from 101 in 2023 to 102 this year.
On the other hand, India’s maritime neighbor Maldives was ranked 58th with its citizens having visa-free access to 96 countries.
China witnessed a marginal jump in its ranking from 66 in 2023 to 64 this year as the country granted visa-free access to many European nations to revive its tourism sector in a post-pandemic economy. The ranking of the United States jumped from 7th to 6th position even as the country’s anti-immigration stance seems to be a polarizing issue in the upcoming Presidential elections.
Henley Passport Index Methodology
“With historical data spanning 19 years, the Henley Passport Index is the only one of its kind based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Authority (IATA). The index includes 199 different passports and 227 different travel destinations. Updated monthly, the Henley Passport Index is considered the standard reference tool for global citizens and sovereign states when assessing where a passport ranks on the global mobility spectrum,” the Henley Passport Index said on its website while sharing the details around its data.
The rankings denote that global mobility underwent a significant transformation over the last two decades as in 2006 people could travel visa-free to 58 countries on average, but the number has almost doubled to 111 countries this year.
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Published: 18 Feb 2024, 07:32 PM IST
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