The Reasons Behind the National Passport Continues to Drop in Global Ranking

In recent months, a video by an Indian travel influencer expressing frustration over India's weak passport gained massive traction on social media.

He mentioned that while neighbouring countries like Bhutan and Sri Lanka were more welcoming to Indian tourists, obtaining visas to travel to many nations in Europe and the West continued to be difficult.

Such concerns regarding the limited global access of Indian passports was reflected in the latest Henley Passport Index, ranking the country at position eighty-five among nearly two hundred nations, five spots lower compared to the previous year.

Officials in India has not commented on the report yet.

Countries including Ghana, Rwanda and Azerbaijan despite smaller economic size than India – a nation that is the fifth-largest economy globally – are ranked higher on the index at the 78th, 74th and 72nd spots, in that order.

In fact, the country's position in the past decade has remained in the 80s, falling to ninetieth place in 2021. These rankings appear poor compared to other Asian countries like Singapore, Japan and South Korea, all maintaining leading ranks.

What Passport Strength Indicates

The power of a passport reflects a nation's soft power and global influence. This leads to enhanced travel freedom for its citizens, improving commercial and learning opportunities. A weak passport means additional documentation, higher visa costs, reduced travel benefits and longer waiting times for travel.

But despite the decline in the rank, the number of countries providing visa-free travel for Indian citizens has actually increased in the past decade or so.

For example, eight years ago – the year the current administration's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power – 52 countries provided visa-free access to Indians and its passport ranked 76th in the ranking.

A year later, it fell to eighty-fifth place, then improved to 80th in 2023 and 2024, dropping again to the eighty-fifth spot currently. At the same time, visa-free destinations to Indian citizens grew from fifty-two eight years ago to 60 in 2023 and sixty-two this year.

Increasing Worldwide Travel Competition

The number of visa-free destinations in 2025 (fifty-seven) is higher than what it was in 2015 (fifty-two), yet India's rank for both these years remains at eighty-fifth. So, why is that?

Experts say that a major reason is the increasingly competitive landscape in international travel – indicating that countries are forming more travel partnerships to benefit their citizens and economic growth. According to a 2025 report, the global average count of countries people can visit visa-free has nearly doubled from 58 in 2006 to one hundred nine currently.

As an illustration, The Chinese passport has increased the number of visa-free destinations available to its citizens from fifty to eighty-two in the past decade. As a result, its rank on the index has enhanced from 94th to 60th in that same duration.

Meanwhile, The Indian passport – previously positioned 77th on the index in July – dropped to the 85th position this autumn after losing access to two countries.

Additional Factors Impacting Passport Power

An ex-diplomat from India says multiple elements influencing the strength of a country's passport, like economic and political conditions as well as its openness to accepting travelers from other countries.

For instance, the American passport has fallen from the top ten and now occupies twelfth place – its lowest ever – because of its more inward-looking approach in world politics.

The diplomat recalls how in the 1970s, Indians enjoyed visa-free travel to many Western and European countries, but that changed after the Sikh separatist movement during the eighties. Subsequent political upheavals have further chipped away at India's image as a stable democracy.

"Many countries are growing more cautious of immigrants," the diplomat added. "India has a large quantity of citizens emigrating to other countries or remaining beyond visa limits and that interferes with the country's reputation."

Elements like the security level of a national passport and its immigration procedures also contribute in gaining visa-free access to foreign nations.

Enhanced Security Measures

The Indian passport faces ongoing security risks. In 2024, law enforcement detained over two hundred individuals for alleged visa and passport fraud. India is also known for cumbersome immigration procedures with lengthy timelines for visa approvals.

The former ambassador says that new technologies, such as the newly introduced electronic passport or e-passport, can improve security and streamline immigration. The e-passport contains a microchip holding biometric information, increasing difficulty to forge or tamper with the passport.

However, more diplomatic outreach and travel partnerships continue essential to boosting the global mobility for Indian citizens and consequently, India's passport ranking.