In the latest ranking, Japan, which was in the top spot for the last five years, dropped to third, with visa-free access to 189 nations around the world.
Singapore has replaced Japan as the most powerful passport among all passports in the world, as it allows visa-free access to as many as 192 global destinations, according to the latest ranking published by Henley Passport Index, released on Tuesday.
In the latest ranking, Japan, which was in the top spot for the last five years, dropped to third, with visa-free access to 189 nations around the world. It shares its position with Austria, Finland, France, Luxembourg, South Korea and Sweden.
India, on the other hand, improved its position by 5 spots from last year, and is currently ranked 80th on the index along with Togo and Senegal, with visa-free access to 57 countries.
The US, which once topped the ranking nearly a decade ago, slid two places to eighth place. The UK, after a Brexit-induced slump, jumped two places to fourth, a position it last held in 2017.
At the bottom of the list is Afghanistan with easy access to 27 destinations. Yemen (99), Pakistan (100), Syria (101) and Iraq (102) round up the bottom five.
Passports of these countries hold the top 10 spots on the Henley Index:
| Rank | Country | Visa-free travel to (out of 277 nations) |
| 1 | Singapore | 192 |
| 2 | Germany, Italy, Spain | 190 |
| 3 | Austria, Finland, France, Japan, South Korea, Luxembourg, Sweden | 189 |
| 4 | Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands, UK | 188 |
| 5 | Belgium, Czech Republic, Malta, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Switzerland | 187 |
| 6 | Australia, Hungary, Poland | 186 |
| 7 | Canada, Greece | 185 |
| 8 | Lithuania, US | 184 |
| 9 | Latvia, Slovakia, Slovenia | 183 |
| 10 | Estonia, Iceland | 182 |
Passports of these countries hold the bottom 10 spots on the Henley Index:
| Rank | Country | Visa-free travel to (out of 277 nations) |
| 103 | Afghanistan | 27 |
| 102 | Iraq | 29 |
| 101 | Syria | 30 |
| 100 | Pakistan | 33 |
| 99 | Yemen, Somalia | 35 |
| 98 | Palestinian territory, Nepal | 38 |
| 97 | North Korea | 39 |
| 96 | Bangladesh | 40 |
| 95 | Sri Lanka, Libya | 41 |
| 94 | Kosovo | 42 |
Invented nearly 20 years ago by Dr Christian H Kaelin, Chairman, Henley & Partners, the index is based on the exclusive and official data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). It is the original ranking of all the passports according to the number of destinations their holders can visit without a prior visa.
Source: www.hindustantimes.com
