The Passport Index 2023: Is India Truly Shining, Or Is It A Mirage?

The Passport Index recently published its latest update, and it revealed that India’s Mobility Scores have fallen; what is also noteworthy is that this is the largest global drop on the Index this year for India.

According to the Passport Index 2023 released by Arton Capital, a financial advisory services firm, India slipped to 144th position as compared to 138th last year with a mobility score of 70.

The ranking was topped by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with a mobility score of 181, followed closely by Sweden, Germany, Finland, Luxembourg, Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Austria, with a joint mobility score of 174.

However, now coming to the pertinent question – India has, in the global arena, been pointed out repeatedly for being the ‘shining star’ in the otherwise global darkening gloom. 

In fact, after the pandemic, many global institutions have gone as far as to proclaim that the nation is the 2nd fastest-growing economy, and this is the tune that has been sung repeatedly and consistently for the last 2-3 years.

Taking this line a bit further, even in the present global recession gloom, where organizations big and small are struggling and have resorted to mass layoffs in order to cut down operational expenses and give a boost to revenue, where countries are struggling with rising inflation and the recent banking crises, India still manages to grab headlines as the best economy, the rising star and yet when it comes to Passport Index the country has dropped in rankings, this time by 5 points to 144th rank; why?

India’s Changing Grace

In 2019, India’s India’s mobility score was 71. It rose to 73 in 2022, but it has again fallen to 70 in 2023. The ranking last year was 138; this year, it is 144. 

The new and recent ‘timeshift’ feature of the Passport Index facilitated the current findings, which was added by popular request to allow an instant, full-spectrum view of the relative power of multiple passports over successive years. 

This feature has highlighted the decline in India’s ranking from its pre-pandemic high, and India’s score is also arguably the sharpest decline of any major economy.

However, the change in India’s score is attributed to the changes in the European Union’s policy, which has seen pressure to introduce visa requirements for Indian nationals placed in countries like Serbia in 2023. India is presently ranked 67th in the Passport Index’s individual rankings. 

The Passport Index

The Passport Index is an interactive passport ranking tool backed by Arton Capital, established on the access of a country’s passport to other nations. This is a real-time tool, and the rankings keep changing as the countries change their mobility scores. 

Is Asia No Longer A ‘Green Pasture’?

However, the fall is not India’s alone, almost all major economies in Asia have taken a fall – China, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Thailand. 

Again the decline is said to indicate the extent to which the above countries have not capitalized on the global uptick in mobility recorded last year.

At 174, the highest score in South Asia was bagged by South Korea and ranked 12th on the list, while Japan, with a score of 172, ranked 26th, whereas almost all the other Asian countries saw a decline in their rankings.

China

China, which only recently dropped its extensive Covid-19 restrictions on travel, continues to underperform in comparison to other economic giants USA and Germany. It is presently ranked 118th in the Passport Index individual rankings, which is a low score considering its global economic influence. 

Therefore, the strength of China’s passport continues to be limited by the lack of visa-free agreements with powerful blocs like the EU or regional competitors such as Japan and India.

Countries That Rose The Index

Across the Index’s rankings, only ten countries have seen a rise in their mobility score this year. Sweden overtook Germany, rising to second overall. 

Elsewhere, Kenya continued its upward trajectory, jumping four places in the individual rankings to record the largest gain in global mobility this year. 

This aligns with broader movements towards greater mobility in the African continent: of the ten countries showing mobility growth, 40% were African nations.

Asian Countries That Slipped Downward Asian Trend 

Notable exceptions to the downward trend in mobility experienced across Asia include South Korea and Japan, both maintaining their strong positions on the Index. 

South Korea, 12th in the individual rankings with a mobility score of 174, has the highest score in Asia. 

Japan, in 26th, with a mobility score of 172, is its closest Asian competitor.

Post Covid 

Globally, the year-on-year gains in mobility post-Covid, which had seen the World Openness Score improve by an average of 19% in both 2021 and 2022, have started to reverse with a 0.3% fall since the start of 2023. 

Much of this past growth was stimulated by recovery from the historic collapse witnessed during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, given the links between high mobility scores and economic growth, this decline in global mobility could prove a worrying development for many countries facing a dramatic inflationary environment.

The Mobility Score, How Is It Calculated?

As per the Index’s official website, Mobility Score is the total number of countries easily accessed with a given passport. It is calculated by adding the total number of countries allowing visa-free travel, Visa-on-arrival, eTA, and eVisa issued within three days to a particular passport.

Indian passport’s ranking in other indices

India ranked 85th out of 199 countries in the Henley Passport Index in January. The Index ranks countries on the basis of the number of destinations the country’s passport holders can access without a pre-departure visa application.

The report said that Indians could travel to 59 countries without a visa, and Japan topped the list.

Conclusion: Irrespective of the fact that global mobility saw significant gains over the last two years as worldwide countries emerged from pandemic-related visa controls, India, which recovered much earlier than most countries, has seen its passport mobility slump. 

China, the second major economy and India’s competition reopening have yet to be fully realized.

With the removal of its pandemic travel restrictions, China may now look to improve its global mobility – securing visa agreements to gain streamlined international access for its citizens would naturally align with China’s longer-term strategy to increase its global influence.