Bangladesh improves position in World Passport Index

Abrar Hussain of DOT
Bangladesh has moved three ranks up in the updated Henley Passport Index, securing 97th, reported The Daily Star.
With visa-free access to 41 countries, Bangladesh is currently holding the 97th position jointly with Lebanon, Libya and South Sudan, according to the index released yesterday.
According to the report, the Japanese passport, allowing its holders to visit 190  countries without a visa, leads the ranking, followed by the Singaporean and South Korean passports (189 countries).
Meanwhile, our neighbors Pakistan ranked 102nd (visa-free access to 33 countries), India 79th (61 countries), Sri Lanka- 95th (43 countries) and Nepal took the 98th place (40 countries) and Myanmar 90th position with visa-free access to 48 countries.
Since 2006, the Henley Passport Index, updated quarterly, has been published in cooperation with the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which maintains the world’s largest tourist information database.
Japan has achieved the top of the ranking for the second time in a row, while China jumped almost 20 places in just two years, from 85th in 2017 to 69th this year.
European countries also performed favorably, with France and Germany filling the third position and Denmark, Italy, Finland and Sweden taking the fourth spot with visa-free access to 187 countries.
The United States ranked sixth along with the United Kingdom with visa-free access to 185 countries while Canada ranked seventh.