How powerful is the Indian passport? Here are the 2017 rankings

This post was originally published on 9 February 2017.

The Indian passport has been ranked 78 in a global ranking of the world’s most powerful passports.

Germany stands at the top with a visa-free score of 157, while Singapore overtakes South Korea and becomes the highest-ranked Asian passport with a visa-free score of 156.

• India stands at 78th position with a visa-free score of 46. While Pakistan and China rank 94 and 66 respectively.
• Afghanistan’s is the least powerful passport with a visa-free score of just 23.

The latest edition of the Arton Capital’s global ranking ‘Passport Index’ is based on cross-border access of national passports.

The online interactive tool, which collects, displays and ranks the passports globally assigns a visa-free score” according to the number of countries a passport holder can visit visa-free or with visa on arrival.

Visa-free countries for Indian passport

Here are the 45 countries providing Visa-Free entry to Indian passport holders:
Bhutan
Cambodia
Cape Verde
Comoros
Dominica
Ecuador
El Salvador
Ethiopia
Fiji
Grenada
Guinea-Bissau
Haiti
Indonesia
Jamaica
Jordan
Kenya
Laos
Macao
Madagascar
Maldives
Marshall Islands
Mauritania
Mauritius
Micronesia
Mozambique
Nepal
Palau
Palestinian Territories
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Samoa
Senegal
Seychelles
Sri Lanka
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Suriname
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Thailand
Timor-Leste
Togo
Trinidad and Tobago
Tuvalu
Uganda
Vanuatu

“The desire to improve one’s opportunity and security for their family transcends borders. As such, having a second citizenship has never been more relevant,” said John Hanafin, CEO of Arton Capital.

The newly added ‘World Openness Score’ (WOS) tracks the progression of freedom of mobility across the globe. The WOS in 2016 was 17,925. In the first month of 2017, the score has already increased to 17,948.

“This trend shows opening of borders but will it continue? With the recent backlash against globalisation and ongoing immigration issues, the World Openness Score may be in danger of decline,” the report said.

In recent years, citizenship by investment has become a $2 billion industry, with over 20,000 investors seeking a second residency or citizenship around the globe every year.