India has registered an upward movement in global travel rankings, with the Indian passport climbing five positions in the latest Henley Passport Index 2026 to reach the 80th spot. The improvement reflects a relative strengthening of India’s global mobility standing, even as Indian travellers face access to fewer visa-free destinations than last year.
According to the index, Indian passport holders currently enjoy visa-free or visa-on-arrival entry to 55 countries. This marks a slight decline from the previous year, when Indians could access 57 destinations without prior visas. India now shares its ranking with Algeria and Niger, placing it in the middle tier of global passport strength.
The Henley Passport Index, compiled using exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), is widely regarded as a key measure of international travel freedom. Analysts say India’s rise in ranking, despite a drop in visa-free access, is largely due to sharper declines experienced by several other countries.
Geopolitical changes and policy revisions have also played a role. Some nations have rolled back visa-on-arrival facilities, directly impacting Indian travellers. Cape Verde, for example, discontinued its visa-on-arrival programme for multiple countries, including India, starting this year. At the same time, India has managed to offset some losses by securing Electronic Travel Authorisation (eTA) arrangements with new destinations, helping stabilise its overall mobility score.
Globally, Asian and European nations continue to dominate the top of the index. Singapore retained its position as the world’s most powerful passport for the third straight year, allowing access to 192 destinations, although this figure has slightly declined from last year. Japan held on to second place with access to 188 countries, sharing the rank with South Korea, which improved its standing.
The third position was jointly occupied by Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Denmark, each granting their citizens visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 186 destinations.
Within India’s neighbourhood, China remained the only neighbouring country ranked higher, standing at 59th with access to 81 destinations. Other South Asian countries trailed India, with Bhutan ranked 87th, Sri Lanka at 93rd, and Bangladesh at 95th.
