Sri Lankan passport ranked 106th in Henley's 2021 Passport Index
The Henley Passport index (HPI) ranks passports according to how many destinations can be reached using a particular country's ordinary passport without requiring a visa ('visa-free'). The site provides a ranking for 199 passports of the world according to the number of countries their holders can travel to visa-free.
In the 2021 rankings, Sri Lanka occupies 106th place, (where its passport holder can travel to 42 countries visa-free) just above Iran, Lebanon, Sudan, Bangladesh, Kosovo, Libya, North Korea, Nepal, Palestine, Somalia, Yemen, Pakistan, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan which occupies the last place.
When Henley’s inaugurated the global Visa Restrictions Index, Sri Lanka occupied the 74th position, slipping progressively since then to 84th in 2010, 96th in 2019 and to 100th place by 2020.
The Henley Passport Index compares the visa-free access of 199 different passports to 227 travel destinations. If no visa is required, then a score with value = 1 is created for that passport. The same applies if you can obtain a visa on arrival, a visitor’s permit, or an electronic travel authority (ETA) when entering the destination.
Where a visa is required, or where a passport holder has to obtain a government-approved electronic visa (e-Visa) before departure, a score with value = 0 is assigned. This also applies if you need pre-departure government approval for a visa on arrival.
The total score for each passport is equal to the number of destinations for which no visa is required (value = 1).
Two Asian countries, namely Japan and Singapore jointly occupy 2021’s top slot. Without taking temporary COVID-related restrictions into account, passport holders of the two Asian nations can now enter 192 destinations around the world visa-free. Germany and South Korea held joint second place with their citizens able to enter 190 destinations visa-free, while Finland, Italy, Luxembourg and Spain shared third place with a score of 189.
Two SAARC countries, namely the Maldives (ranked 60th with visa free access to 87 countries), and India (ranked 90th with visa free access to 58 countries), were positioned ahead of Sri Lanka.
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