On Tuesday (July 21), the UK-based international advisory firm Henley & Partners published their 2026 mid-year passport index.
According to the firm, this index is based on how many countries citizens of a country can enter without prior visa or with easy visa facilities. This evaluation includes 199 passports and 227 travel destinations worldwide.
The index says that currently, Bangladeshi and North Korean passport holders can travel to 35 countries visa-free, visa on arrival, or with e-visa facilities in specific cases. Although in last year's index, such destinations for Bangladeshi citizens were 37. However, in terms of position, Bangladesh has moved up from 100th place to 97th place.
Reviewing the rankings of the last few years, it is seen that in 2024, Bangladesh's position was 97th. In 2025, it dropped to 100th place. Before that, in 2023 it was 101st, in 2022 it was 103rd, in 2021 it was 108th, and in 2020 it was 98th.
Currently, the countries where Bangladeshi passport holders can go with visa-free, visa on arrival, or e-visa facilities include: Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Seychelles, Samoa, Fiji, Barbados, Bahamas, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Vanuatu, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Cambodia, East Timor (Timor-Leste), Madagascar, Rwanda, Guinea-Bissau, Comoros, Dominica, Grenada, Haiti, British Virgin Islands, Montserrat, Cook Islands, Niue, Djibouti, Sierra Leone, Gambia, and Burundi, totaling 35 destinations.
In this year's index, Singapore has retained the top position as the world's most powerful passport, as before. Citizens of the country can travel to 192 countries without prior visa.
In second place are Japan, South Korea, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Passport holders from these countries enjoy visa-free entry to 188 countries.
In third place is Sweden, whose citizens can travel visa-free to 187 countries.
In fourth place are Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, and Spain. The number of visa-free destinations for citizens of these countries is 186.
Austria, Greece, Malta, Portugal, and Switzerland are in fifth place. In sixth place are Hungary, Poland, and the United Kingdom. In seventh place are Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Latvia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Slovakia, and Slovenia.
In eighth place are Croatia and Estonia, in ninth place are Liechtenstein and Lithuania, and in tenth place are Iceland and the United States.
