Passport Rankings shows improvement of Bangladesh

Bangladesh rose by four notches in the UK-based Henley & Partners’ Global Passport Ranking for 2024, sharing the 93rd spot with Palestine and Libya.

Bangladesh ranked 97th in 2024 and 98th in 2023. According to the latest ranking, a Bangladeshi passport entitles visa-free travel to 39 countries and the number was 42 in 2024.

Singapore ranked at the top of the index with its citizens able to travel to as many as 193 visa-free destinations. Another Asian country Afghanistan came at the bottom with passport holders having visa-free access to as few as 25 countries.

“With historical data spanning 19 years, the Henley Passport Index is the only one of its kind based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Authority (IATA). The index includes 199 different passports and 227 different travel destinations, “Henley & Partners’ said on its website.

“Updated monthly, the Henley Passport Index is considered the standard reference tool for global citizens and sovereign states when assessing where a passport ranks on the global mobility spectrum,” they added

Two South Asian countries Nepal and Pakistan followed Bangladesh securing the 94th and the 96th spots respectively.

Top-ranked countries

Japan and South Korea followed Singapore with their citizens able to visit 190 countries without a visa, while Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Spain came in third place as their passport holders can travel to 189 countries with no visa.

Seven countries shared the fourth spot - Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and Sweden as their citizens can travel to 188 countries without a visa in advance.

Greece, New Zealand and Switzerland were ranked fifth on the list with their citizens able to travel to 187 countries without a visa, while Australia and the United Kingdom shared the sixth place as their citizens can visit 186 countries without a visa.

Five countries -- Canada, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Malta and Poland – came in seventh place and passport holders of these countries can travel to 185 countries without a visa, while Estonia and the United Arab Emirates shared the eighth spot in the list with its citizens able to visit 184 destinations without a visa.

The US was in the ninth place, alongside Croatia, Latvia, Slovakia and Slovenia as their passport holders can travel 183 places without a visa, while Iceland and Lithuania came in the tenth spot with its citizens able to visit as many as 182 visa-free destinations.

Other than this, passport holders from Ukraine (28) can travel to 147 visa-free destinations, Russia (45) to 114 destinations and China (59) to 83 visa-free destinations.

Position of South Asian countries

Island country Maldives' passport is the most powerful as it ranked 52nd among South Asian countries in the list with its citizens able to travel to 93 countries without a visa.

India (80) followed Maldives with 56 visa-free destinations, while Bhutan (83) passport has 51 visa-free destinations; Myanmar (88) passport has 45 visa-free destinations and Sri Lanka has 42 visa-free destinations.

Passport holders from Nepal and Pakistan can travel to 38 and 32 countries without a visa, while Afghanistan came to the bottom of the list.