The Q3 edition of the Henley Passport Index 2023 – the most widely-accepted rating of global travel documents – places Bangladesh’s passport at 96th position, up five places from the first quarter of 2023.

The latest edition of the Passport Index — published on Tuesday — features a total of 103 spots with some countries’ passports sharing the same ranking. 

Bangladesh ranked 96th among 103 positions in the third quarter of 2023. 

Also read: Bangladesh passport visa free countries for 2023

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.

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.

Also read: Bangladeshi passport’s ranking improves in 2023, still behind Iran and Sri Lanka as per Henley Index  

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). 

Also read: Bangladesh slips 2 notches in Henley Passport Index 2020

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.