For the fifth straight year, the Japanese passport is the most powerful among all passports in the world, as it allows visa-free access to as many as 193 countries, according to Henley Passport Index 2023. India, on the other hand, improved its position by 2 spots from last year, and is currently ranked 85th on the index.
A holder of an Indian passport can travel visa-free to 59 countries (60 in 2022); Mauritanian and Uzbekistan passports are as powerful as that of India.
Passports of these countries hold the top 10 spots on the Henley Index:
| Rank | Passport(s) | Visa-free travel to (out of 227 destinations) |
| 1. | Japan | 193 |
| 2. | Singapore, South Korea | 192 |
| 3. | Germany, Spain | 190 |
| 4. | Finland, Italy, Luxembourg | 189 |
| 5. | Austria, Denmark, Netherlands, Sweden | 188 |
| 6. | France, Ireland, Portugal, United Kingdom | 187 |
| 7. | Belgium, Czech Republic, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, United States | 186 |
| 8. | Australia, Canada, Greece, Malta | 185 |
| 9. | Hungary, Poland | 184 |
| 10. | Lithuania, Slovakia | 183 |
| 85. | India, Mauritania, Uzbekistan | 59 |
Passports of these countries hold the bottom 10 spots on the Henley Index:
| Rank | Passport(s) | Visa-free travel to (out of 227 destinations) |
| 109. | Afghanistan | 27 |
| 108. | Iraq | 29 |
| 107. | Syria | 30 |
| 106. | Pakistan | 32 |
| 105. | Yemen | 34 |
| 104. | Somalia | 35 |
| 103. | Nepal, Palestinian Territory | 38 |
| 102. | North Korea | 40 |
| 101. | Bangladesh, Kosovo, Libya | 41 |
| 100. | Democratic Republic of Congo, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Sudan | 42 |
Henley Passport Index
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.
