Why the National Passport Continues to Drop in Global Ranking

In recent months, a video from a popular travel content creator expressing frustration over India's weak passport went viral on social media.

The influencer stated although nearby nations like Sri Lanka and Bhutan were more welcoming of travelers from India, securing travel permits to travel to most Western and European countries remained a challenge.

This dissatisfaction with the limited global access of Indian passports found confirmation in recent global passport ranking, which placed India at position eighty-five among nearly two hundred nations, five spots lower compared to the previous year.

Officials in India have not issued a statement on the report so far.

Countries including Rwanda, Ghana and Azerbaijan with much smaller economies than India – a nation that is the world's fifth biggest economy – are ranked higher in the ranking in the seventies range, respectively.

In fact, the country's position over the last ten years has remained in the 80s, falling to ninetieth place in 2021. These rankings appear poor when measured against Asian nations like Singapore, Japan and South Korea, all maintaining leading ranks.

What Passport Strength Indicates

Passport strength reflects a nation's soft power and international standing. It also translates into enhanced travel freedom for passport holders, improving commercial and learning opportunities. Limited passport power means additional documentation, increased visa expenses, reduced travel benefits and longer waiting times when journeying.

But despite the drop in position, the count of nations providing visa-free travel for Indian citizens has actually increased over the last ten years.

For example, eight years ago – the year the current administration's ruling party came to power – fifty-two nations provided visa-free travel to Indians and its passport ranked 76th on the index.

A year later, it tumbled to the 85th position, then rose to eightieth over the past two years, dropping again to the eighty-fifth spot currently. At the same time, countries allowing visa-free travel to Indian citizens increased from 52 in 2015 to sixty last year and sixty-two this year.

The Competitive Global Mobility Landscape

The count of visa-free destinations this year (57) exceeds the number in 2015 (52), but the country's position for both these years remains at eighty-fifth. What explains this situation?

Analysts note that a primary factor is the increasingly competitive landscape in global mobility – indicating that countries are forming more travel partnerships to benefit their citizens and economic growth. As per a 2025 report, the global average count of countries people can visit visa-free has almost doubled from fifty-eight nineteen years ago to one hundred nine currently.

For example, China has expanded the number of visa-free countries its citizens can travel to from fifty to eighty-two in the past decade. Consequently, its rank in the ranking has improved from ninety-fourth to sixtieth during the same time period.

Meanwhile, India – previously positioned 77th on the index in July – dropped to eighty-fifth place in October after losing access of two nations.

Additional Factors Impacting Passport Power

A former Indian ambassador says there are other factors that affect the strength of a country's passport, like its economic and political stability plus its receptiveness to welcoming citizens from abroad.

For instance, the US passport has fallen from the top ten and now occupies twelfth place – its lowest ever – because of its increasingly insular stance in global affairs.

The former ambassador mentioned that during the seventies, Indians enjoyed visa-free travel to numerous European and Western nations, though this shifted after the Khalistan movement during the eighties. Subsequent political upheavals have further chipped away the country's reputation as a stable, democratic country.

"Numerous nations are also becoming increasingly wary of immigrants," the diplomat added. "India has a high number of people migrating to other countries or overstaying their visas and that interferes with the country's reputation."

Factors like the security level a country's passport is and immigration processes also contribute in gaining visa-free entry to foreign nations.

Enhanced Security Measures

The Indian passport faces ongoing security threats. Last year, authorities arrested 203 people for suspected visa and passport fraud. The country also has complex immigration processes and a slow pace for visa approvals.

The former ambassador says that new technologies, like India's recently-launched digital passport or e-passport, may enhance safety and ease the immigration process. The e-passport contains a small chip that stores biometric data, increasing difficulty to counterfeit or alter the document.

But, more diplomatic outreach and travel agreements remain key for enhancing international travel freedom of Indians and consequently, the Indian passport's global position.