North Korea, a country largely cut off from international engagement, and Palestine, a nation in ruins, both share the 94th spot with visa access to 38 countries, while a Bangladeshi passport allows visa-free travel to 37 destinations.
Representational image. Photo: Collected
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Representational image. Photo: Collected
The Bangladeshi passport has once again been ranked the seventh weakest globally, as its holders can travel to just 37 of 227 destinations worldwide without a prior visa, according to the January 2026 edition of the Henley Passport Index.
TBS Highlights
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TBS Highlights
The latest edition, released on Tuesday, 13 January, by Henley and Partners, placed the Bangladeshi passport at 95th among 101 positions, trailing behind the Palestinian and North Korean passports.
North Korea, a country largely cut off from international engagement, and Palestine, a nation in ruins, both share the 94th spot with visa-free access to 38 countries, while Bangladeshi passport holders can travel visa-free to 37 destinations.
The ranking features a total of 101 positions, with some countries sharing the same rank, based on the number of destinations that passport holders can access without a prior visa.
Singapore holds the strongest passport in the world in 2026, with visa-free access to 192 countries. Japan and South Korea follow in joint second place, with access to 188 countries.
They are followed by five European countries – Denmark, Luxembourg, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland – which share third place, with visa-free access to 186 countries.
The countries occupying the bottom five rankings in the Passport Index are Pakistan, Yemen, Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan.
In South Asia, the Maldives holds the region’s strongest passport, ranked 52nd, with visa-free access to 92 countries. It is followed by India at 80th, Bhutan at 85th and Sri Lanka at 93rd, whose citizens can travel to 55, 50 and 39 destinations without a prior visa, respectively.
Bangladesh ranks fifth in South Asia, ahead of Nepal at 96th, Pakistan at 98th and Afghanistan at 101st, whose citizens have visa-free access to 35, 31 and 24 countries, respectively.
With historical data spanning 20 years, the Henley Passport Index is the only one of its kind based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Authority. The index includes 199 different passports and 227 travel destinations.
It is considered the standard reference tool for global citizens and sovereign states when assessing where a passport ranks on the global mobility spectrum.