Bangladesh climbs 5 spots in latest passport ranking

Bangladesh has moved by five steps in the Q3 edition of the Henley Passport Index 2023.

The index released on Tuesday placed Bangladesh's passport at 96th position.

The latest edition of the Passport Index features a total of 103 spots with some countries' passports sharing the same ranking.

In 2022, Bangladesh ranked 104th out of 109. 

The ranking is based on the number of destinations passport holders can access without a prior visa.

According to the Q3 edition of 2023 Henley Passport Index, a Bangladeshi passport entitles visa-free travel to 40 destinations.

Bangladesh climbs 5 spots in latest passport ranking, still behind Sri Lanka and Libya 

In South Asia, the Bangladeshi passport fared better compared to that of Nepal (98), Pakistan (100) and Afghanistan (103). 

Maldives' passport ranked at 57, becoming the strongest in the region with visa-free access to 91 countries. India, Bhutan and Sri Lanka's passports ranked at 80th, 84th and 95th respectively.

In this quarter's ranking, Singapore has overtaken Japan to be the strongest passport in the world with visa-free access to 192 countries, ending Tokyo's 4-year reign on top. Other countries sharing the top 5 rankings in the Henley Index are: Germany, Italy and Spain at 2; Austria, Finland, France, Japan, Luxembourg, South Korea and Sweden sharing the third spot; Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands and the United Kingdom at 4; Belgium, Czech Republic, Malta, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal and Switzerland sharing the 5th spot.

Countries sharing the bottom 5 rankings as per the passport index are: Somalia and Yemen (99), Pakistan (100), Syria (101), Iraq (102) and Afghanistan (103). 

The Henley Passport Index, the only one of its kind based on unique data from the International Air Transport Authority (IATA), has historical data going back 18 years. The database lists 227 travel destinations and 199 passports.

The passport index is updated every quarter, and is regarded as the go-to resource for global citizens and sovereign states for determining where a passport ranks on the scale of global mobility.