Why the Indian Passport Is Falling in Global Ranking

Earlier this year, a video by a popular travel content creator expressing frustration over India's weak passport went viral on social media.

The influencer stated that while neighbouring countries such as Bhutan and Sri Lanka offered easier access of Indian tourists, securing travel permits for visiting many nations in Europe and the West continued to be difficult.

Such concerns regarding the limited global access of Indian passports found confirmation in the latest global passport ranking, which placed India at position eighty-five out of 199 countries, a decline of five positions than last year.

Officials in India has not commented regarding these findings yet.

Nations including Rwanda, Ghana and Azerbaijan with much smaller economies than India – which is the fifth-largest economy globally – are ranked higher in the ranking at the 78th, 74th and 72nd spots, in that order.

Actually, India's rank in the past decade has hovered in the 80s, even dipping to ninetieth place in 2021. These rankings are dismal compared to Asian nations like Singapore, Japan and South Korea, all maintaining leading ranks.

Global Passport Power Measures

Passport strength indicates a nation's soft power and global influence. This leads to enhanced travel freedom for its citizens, improving commercial and learning opportunities. A weak passport results in additional documentation, increased visa expenses, reduced travel benefits and longer waiting times for travel.

But despite the decline in the rank, the number of countries providing visa-free travel for Indian citizens has actually increased in the past decade or so.

As an instance, in 2014 – the year Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling party assumed office – fifty-two nations provided visa-free access for Indian passport holders with the passport ranked 76th on the index.

The following year, it tumbled to the 85th position, then improved to 80th over the past two years, dropping again to the eighty-fifth spot this year. At the same time, visa-free destinations for Indians grew from 52 in 2015 to sixty last year and 62 in 2024.

Increasing Worldwide Travel Competition

The count of visa-free destinations this year (fifty-seven) is higher than the number eight years ago (fifty-two), but India's rank during both periods remains at eighty-fifth. So, why is that?

Analysts note that a major reason involves growing competition in global mobility – indicating that nations are forming more travel partnerships for their populations' advantage and their economies. As per a 2025 report, the worldwide mean count of countries travellers are able to access visa-free has almost doubled from fifty-eight nineteen years ago to one hundred nine currently.

For example, China has increased its count 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 enhanced from 94th to 60th in that same duration.

Meanwhile, India – which was ranked 77th on the index in July – dropped to the 85th position this autumn following the loss of two nations.

Additional Factors Affecting Passport Strength

A former Indian ambassador notes multiple elements influencing the strength of a country's passport, like economic and political conditions plus its receptiveness to welcoming citizens from other countries.

For instance, the American passport has dropped out of the top 10 and now occupies twelfth place – its lowest ever – due to its increasingly insular stance in global affairs.

The diplomat mentioned how in the 1970s, Indians enjoyed visa-free travel to many Western and European countries, but that changed following Sikh separatist movement in the 1980s. Subsequent political upheavals have further chipped away at India's image as a stable democracy.

"Numerous nations are growing more cautious of immigrants," the diplomat added. "The country possesses a high number of citizens emigrating overseas or overstaying their visas and that interferes with the national image."

Factors such as how secure a country's passport is and its immigration procedures also play a role to obtaining visa-free entry to foreign nations.

Security and Technological Improvements

India's passport remains vulnerable to security threats. In 2024, law enforcement detained 203 people for alleged passport and visa irregularities. India is also known for complex immigration processes and a slow pace for visa approvals.

The former ambassador says that technological advances, such as the newly introduced electronic passport or e-passport, may enhance safety and ease the immigration process. The e-passport includes a small chip holding biometric data, increasing difficulty to forge or tamper with the passport.

However, more diplomatic outreach and travel partnerships continue essential to boosting international travel freedom for Indian citizens and, by extension, India's passport ranking.