Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: In the ever-changing world of global mobility, both India and the United States of America (USA) have seen their passport rankings drop in the 2025 Henley Passport Index, which lists the world’s most travel-friendly passports, according to a report in the Financial Express.
The index, based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), evaluates how many destinations citizens can visit without obtaining a prior visa. The index covers 199 passports and 227 travel destinations. It is updated every month and is widely used by travellers and countries to see how powerful each passport is in terms of global travel access.
India slips to 85th place
India’s passports have fallen to 85th place, offering visa-free access to 57 countries, compared to 59 in 2024. Earlier this year, India ranked 77th, reflecting a gradual decline in travel freedom. For context, India was ranked 80th in 2024, and its best-ever ranking was 71st in 2006, while the lowest came in 2021 at 90th.
Why the fall?
In July 2025, India ranked 77th, with visa-free access to 59 nations. But by October, two countries had revoked this privilege, pushing India down to 85th. Former Indian ambassador Achal Malhotra told the BBC that several factors including economic stability, political conditions and migration policies influence passport strength.
Malhotra noted that during the 1970s, Indians could travel to several Western nations without visas. However, this changed in the 1980s, following the Khalistan movement and internal unrest. Increased immigration and overstaying trends made foreign governments more cautious toward Indian travelers. Western countries such as the US, the UK, and Canada have made their visa rules stricter for Indian travellers because of worries about illegal immigration, people overstaying their visas, and fake applications.
On forums like Reddit, some users say that Indian tourists sometimes struggle to adjust to local customs or continue their bargaining habits overseas. Though these are personal opinions, they add to the image issues India faces when it comes to global travel freedom.
US has slipped too For the first time in the index’s 20-year history, the United States has slipped out of the top 10, now ranking 12th, tied with Malaysia. The US passport currently provides visafree access to 180 destinations out of 227. Once considered one of the world’s strongest passports, the US has been overtaken by 36 other countries, primarily due to changes in visa policies and tighter entry conditions worldwide.
Meanwhile, Asian countries continue to lead the chart, as Singapore is ranked No.1 and allows its citizens to travel visa-free to 193 countries. The second top country is South Korea with access to 190 countries and third is Japan with 189.
On the other hand, Indian passport holders can visit only 16 countries without a visa. These include Bhutan, Nepal, Indonesia, Mauritius, and Trinidad and Tobago. Another 27 countries, such as Sri Lanka, Maldives, Jordan, Qatar, Cambodia, Bolivia, Mongolia, Ethiopia, Mozambique, and Myanmar, offer visas on arrival. Although these options give Indians some travel freedom, India’s overall passport strength still remains low compared to the world’s top-ranked nations.