In the world, passport is not just a paper for travel, but is also an identity of a country’s power and its diplomacy. In such an environment when visa rules are becoming stricter, Bangladesh suddenly took a step which surprised everyone. Questions began to arise whether his passport is now getting stronger or is the picture still the same? And where does it stand compared to India? Let us understand through figures.

What is the real measure of the strength of a passport?

The strength of any country’s passport is measured by how many countries its citizens can visit without obtaining a visa beforehand. Two types of facilities are counted in this – visa free entry and visa on arrival. Every year, London-based global citizenship firm Henley & Partners releases its famous Henley Passport Index, which is based on data from the International Air Transport Association.

According to the latest update of February 2026, Bangladeshi passport holders can get visa free or visa on arrival facility in about 37 to 42 countries. This number determines the global reach of a passport.

How much access does Bangladesh passport give?

According to statistics, Bangladesh passport comes between 93rd to 97th place in the world ranking. This means that its citizens have access to travel only to a limited number of countries. These 37-42 countries mostly include some small or medium countries in Africa, the Caribbean and Asia. In big and developed countries like Europe, North America or Australia, Bangladeshi citizens have to obtain a visa in advance.

Recently, Bangladesh created a stir in diplomatic circles by relaxing the visa for North Korean citizens, but this has not had any major impact on the overall global ranking of its passport.

What is the ranking of India’s passport?

Now if we talk about India, the condition of Indian passport is better than that of Bangladesh. By February 2026, Indian passport holders can get visa free or visa on arrival facility in 56 countries. Talking about the ranking, India is at about 75th position, which is much above Bangladesh. This clearly means that Indian citizens get relatively more facilities in international travel.

The improved status of the Indian passport is also linked to India’s strong diplomatic ties and growing economic power. In the last few years, many countries have eased visa rules for Indian citizens, especially for tourism and business travel.

How big is the difference?

If we make a direct comparison, India gets visa free or visa on arrival facility in about 14 to 19 more countries than Bangladesh. There is a difference of about 15 to 20 places in the ranking also. This difference is not just a statistic, but also a reflection of trust, economic stability and international relationships at the global level. The strength of a passport indicates how much the world trusts a country’s citizens and how strong its relations with that country are.

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There is good news regarding India’s passport ranking. There has been improvement in India’s passport ranking. It has been ranked at number 75 in the recently released Henley Passport Index. An improvement of 10 places has been seen in the ranking. Earlier, India’s passport ranking was at number 85.

The Henley Passport Index ranks passports based on the number of destinations accessible without a visa. This shows that Indian travelers now have visa free or visa on arrival access to 56 countries. That means global mobility has improved with the Indian passport.

What benefits does India get from this ranking?

Actually, many reasons have been considered for the improvement in this ranking of Indian Visa. Among these, Indian passport now gives more travel freedom. This makes holidays, business travel and cultural exchanges easier. Apart from these, countries of Asia, Caribbean, Africa and Oceania are giving easy entry option to Indian citizens. There have been many ups and downs in passports in the last decade. It reached number 71 in 2006. There was a decline in the years that followed. But now the ranking has improved again.

See different categories of countries here

visa free countries In Angola, Barbados, Bhutan, British Virgin Islands, Cook Islands, Dominica, Fiji, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Macau, Malaysia, Mauritius, Micronesia, Montserrat, Nepal, Philippines, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles (ETA), Saint Kitts and Nevis (ETA), Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Includes Vanuatu, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

visa on arrival Countries include Burundi, Cambodia, Cape Verde Island, Comoro Island, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau, Indonesia, Jordan, Laos, Madagascar, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mongolia, Mozambique, Myanmar, Niue, Palau Iceland, Qatar, Samoa, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Saint Lucia, Tanzania, Timor Leste, Tuvalu, Zimbabwe Are.

eVisa countries Includes, Russian Federation, Sao Tome and Principe, Singapore, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Saint Helena, Suriname, Syria, Tajikistan, Bahamastogo, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Zambia, Albania, Anguilla, Atigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Benin, Bolivia, Botswana, Countries like Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Colombia, Congo, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Georgia, Guinea, Kyrgyzstan, Mauritania, Moldova, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Oman are included.

The list of Henley Passport Index 2026 has been released, in which there has been a good improvement in the ranking of Indian passport. Now Indian passport is at number 80, which was at number 85 last year (2025). This means that the ranking of passport has improved by 5 places in one year. Niger and Algeria are also at 85th rank.

Indians can travel visa free to 55 countries

Indian passport holders can now travel to 55 countries with visa free entry, visa on arrival or electronic travel authorization (eTA). Last year this number was 57, but now the rank has improved. This ranking of Indian passport is a sign of improvement after stagnant or declining in the last few years. India was ranked 71st in 2006, but declined later. Now it is in the mid-tier.

Which country has the top ranking passport?

• Singapore’s passport is the most powerful, which has visa free access to 192 countries.
• Japan and South Korea are at second place, which have got entry in 188 countries.
• Denmark, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain and Luxembourg are in third place, which has access in 186 countries.
• The UAE was the strongest performer, reaching 5th place, climbing 57 places since 2006 and now has access to 149 countries.

What rank do American and Pakistani passports hold?

In this ranking, American passport has returned to 10th place, which has visa free entry in 179 countries. Last year, America was out of the top-10 list and reached 12th position. Whereas, Pakistan (98) and Bangladesh are at 95th position.

The weakest passport is that of Afghanistan, which has been ranked 101st. That means Afghan people can travel only to 24 countries.

What is Henley Passport Index?

The Henley Passport Index is the world’s most trusted passport ranking, prepared by Henley & Partners in London. It ranks 199 passports and 227 countries/territories based on the convenience of traveling without a prior visa. For this, data is taken from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

This index shows that there is great inequality in freedom of travel in the world. There is a difference of 168 countries between top and bottom. Global mobility has increased over the past 20 years, but the benefits are unevenly distributed.