The Bangladeshi passport has once again ranked the seventh weakest globally, as its holder can travel to just 37 out of 227 destinations around the world without a prior visa, according to the January 2026 edition of the Henley Passport Index.

The latest edition, released today (13 January) by Henley and Partners, placed the Bangladeshi passport at the 95th position among 101 spots, trailing behind the war-torn Palestinian and North Korean passports. In the previous edition, Bangladesh ranked 100th out of 106, making it the seventh weakest passport in the world.

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.

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 second place, with access to 188 countries. They are followed by five European countries—Denmark, Luxembourg, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland—which all share the third spot, 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. 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 (IATA).

The index includes 199 different passports and 227 different 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.

The Maldives boasts the most powerful passport in South Asia. The Maldives’ passport is ranked 52nd, offering visa-free access to 92 countries.

It is followed by India (80th), Bhutan (85th), and Sri Lanka (93rd), whose citizens can travel to 55, 50, and 39 countries without a prior visa, respectively.

Bangladesh ranks fifth in South Asia, ahead of Nepal (96th), Pakistan (98th), and Afghanistan (101st), whose citizens have visa-free access to 35, 31, and 24 countries, respectively.