Passport Power: Japan tops list, where does India stand?

The travel, aviation and hospitality industry felt the ruin caused by the novel coronavirus and travel bans in 2020. But with the vaccine rollout in several countries, the future seems better. So for those who are planning a trip in 2021, it’s time to know the passport power of their nations. Because Henley Passport Index has just released a list of most powerful passports in the world for 2021.

Starting off with a jaw-dropper, let us tell you that in the world superpower list, the United States could be number one, but here is a tally in which Japan has left it far behind reigning supreme. This is the tally of passport power, in which America’s Asian ally Japan continues to top the ‘most powerful passport’ table in the world, according to the Henley Passport Index of 2021.

Now for those who want to know where does India stand on the list, the answer is 85. India has slipped one place this year in the most powerful passport report.

So the question is how the strength of a passport is defined? Well, it depends on the maximum number of destinations a country’s passport holder can travel to without a visa.

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Indian passport can get you visa-free entry to 58 destinations worldwide. That includes countries like Bhutan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Macao, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Kenya, Mauritius, Seychelles, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Iran and Qatar. You might require visa-on-arrival in some countries.

While, according to the report released by Henley Passport Index on 5 January, Japanese citizens can travel to as many as 191 countries around the world visa-free (or with visa-on-arrival access).

India’s rank continues to drop in the last three years, from 82nd spot in 2019 to 84th in 2020, and 85th in 2021.

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Singapore is in on the second place (with a score of 190), South Korea and Germany share the third place (with a score of 189).

Countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Switzerland are at the seventh position with a visa-free score of 185. Australia stands at the 8th position with a visa score of 184.

Best 10 passports in 2021

1. Japan (191 destinations)
2. Singapore (190)
3. South Korea, Germany (189)
4. Italy, Finland, Spain, Luxembourg (188)
5. Denmark, Austria (187)
6. Sweden, France, Portugal, Netherlands, Ireland (186)
7. Switzerland, United States, United Kingdom, Norway, Belgium, New Zealand (185)
8. Greece, Malta, Czech Republic, Australia (184)
9. Canada (183)
10. Hungary (181)

Worst 10 passports in 2021

101. Iran, Bangladesh (41 destinations)
102. Kosovo, Sudan, North America (40)
103. North Korea (39)
104. Libya, Nepal (38)
105. Palestinian territories (37)
106. Somalia, Yemen (33)
107. Pakistan (32)
108. Syria (29)
109. Iraq (28)
110. Afghanistan (26)

The Henley Passport Index (HPI) is a global ranking of countries according to the travel freedom for their citizens. The site provides a ranking of the 199 passports of the world according to the number of countries their holders can travel to visa-free. The number of countries that a specific passport can access becomes its visa-free ‘score’. The ranking is based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).