Henley Passport Index 2020 | 16 Jan 2020
Why in News
Henley & Partners, the residence and citizenship planning firm has published the Henley Passport Index for 2020 according to the number of destinations the respective passport holders can access without a prior visa.
- The ranking is based on data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), a trade association of some 290 airlines, including all major carriers.
- The index includes 199 different passports and 227 different travel destinations.
- The Henley Passport Index was launched in 2006 with the aim of providing a global picture of freedom of travelling.
Key Points
- Japan has the world’s strongest passport whereas Afghanistan (107th rank) has the weakest.
- Japan has been topping the Index for three years continuously.
- Singapore, in second place (same as in 2019) followed by Germany and South Korea both shares the third position in the index.
- The Indian passport is closer to the bottom, ranked 84th in the world.
- The Indian passport ranked higher in both 2019 (82nd) and 2018 (81st).
- Serbia is the only European country to which Indian passport holders can travel visa-free. There is no major or developed country to which Indian passport holders have visa-free access.
- The USA and the UK both countries are in eighth place in 2020; a significant decline from the rank 1 they jointly held in 2015.
- The top 10 most powerful passports for 2020 are Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Germany, Italy, Finland, Spain, USA and UK, Luxembourg, Denmark.