Hyderabad: A graphic circulating on social media claims that India's passport ranking has fallen from 76th in 2014 to 125th in 2026. Several users shared the post alleging that the Indian passport has lost its value under the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government compared with the Congress-led government in 2014.
The viral graphic features PM Modi and the alleged data that shows the decline of India's passport ranking.
The official Facebook page of the Indian National Congress also shared the graphic on July 6 with the caption, "Passport global ranking under Modi." (Archive)
But is the ranked list correct?
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the claim is misleading. The viral post compares passport rankings published by two organisations in two different years. These rankings are based on different methodologies and cannot be compared directly.
How did we find the truth?
We checked the passport rankings published by Arton Capital, Henley & Partners and Global Citizen Solutions. These organisations publish widely used global passport indices. Each follows a different methodology to assess passport strength.
In 2026, Arton Capital's Global Passport Index ranked India 65th, the Henley Passport Index placed India 80th and Global Citizen Solutions' Global Passport Index ranked India 125th.
Since these indices use different criteria, their rankings cannot be compared directly.
Henley Passport Index
We checked the Henley Passport Index and found that India was ranked 76th in 2014. In the 2026 edition of the index, India is ranked 80th. The ranking has changed over the years, improving in some years and declining in others.
The Henley Passport Index is based on data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The data is supplemented and updated through the company's in-house research and publicly available information. The index covers 199 passports and 227 travel destinations and is updated every month. It ranks passports based on the number of destinations their holders can visit without obtaining a visa in advance, including visa-free entry, visa on arrival and Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA).
Arton Capital Global Passport Index
Arton Capital's Global Passport Index placed India at 65th rank in 2026. We could not find a 2014 ranking for India that supports the viral claim.
We also found that Arton Capital launched the Global Passport Index in March 2015. Since the index did not exist in 2014, it cannot be used to compare India's 2014 and 2026 rankings.
Unlike the Henley Passport Index, Arton Capital's Global Passport Index uses a mobility score based on visa-free travel, visa on arrival, eVisa access and destinations that require a visa. The index is updated in real time as visa policies change.
Global Citizen Solutions Global Passport Index
We then reviewed the Global Citizen Solutions Global Passport Index, which ranks India 125th in 2026.
However, this comparison is misleading because the index was launched only in 2017 and therefore has no ranking for 2014.
Its methodology also differs significantly from the other two indices. Besides passport mobility, it considers the Investment Index and the Quality of Living Index while assessing the overall strength of a passport.
Conclusion
The viral posts falsely compare India's 2014 ranking from the Henley Passport Index with its 2026 ranking from the Global Citizen Solutions Global Passport Index. These passport rankings are published by different organisations and use different methodologies.
Therefore, we conclude that the claim is misleading.