Japan, Singapore and South Korea have the most powerful passports in the world, according to the latest rankings released by Henley Passport Index.
A Japanese passport provides hassle-free entry to 193 countries and remains the most powerful for the fifth year in a row.
Singapore and South Korea, which according to the latest Henley Passport Index are at number 2 and 3 slots respectively provide access to 192 countries.
Where does India rank?
Indian passport which is ranked at 87 provides easy access to 60 countries.
The lifting of ban on international travel has helped passports regain strength.
To contain the spread of covid-19, India had suspended international flights after the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic in March, 2020.
The ban was finally lifted after a period of two years in March this year.
Visa-free access to a tourist destination not only makes travelling cheaper but also hassle-free.
The rest of the top 10 include countries such as Germany, Spain, Finland, Luxembourg, and Italy.
The UK is sixth with access to 187 countries, while the US is seventh with a score of 186, the latest ranking shows.
Russian travel documents are ranked 50th, giving easy access to 119 nations.
China placed 69th with access to 80 countries and Afghanistan’s passport is the least useful, getting the holder into only 27 countries.
“The recovery and reclamation of our travel freedoms, and our innate instinct to move and migrate, will take time,” Henley & Partners Chairman Christian Kaelin said in a statement, Bloomberg reported.
The index, which uses 17 years of data, helps wealthy individuals and governments assess the value of citizenships around the world based on which passports offer the most prolific visa-free, or visa-on-arrival access.
The Henley Passport Index is the original, authoritative ranking of all the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa.
The index is based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) – the largest, most accurate travel information database – and enhanced by Henley & Partners’ research team.