Sri Lankan Passport Hits Highest Ranking In A Decade, Climbs To 94th Globally

by Zulfick Farzan 22-07-2026 | 5:22 PM

COLOMBO (News 1st); Sri Lanka's passport has achieved its strongest global ranking in a decade.

According to the latest Henley Passport Index 2026 Global Ranking, Sri Lanka is ranked 94th in the world, with Sri Lankan passport holders enjoying visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 39 destinations. The ranking represents Sri Lanka's best performance in the past 10 years.

The latest position places Sri Lanka ahead of several countries in the lower tier of the index and marks a notable improvement compared to recent years. Sri Lanka was ranked 96th in both 2024 and 2025, 100th in 2023, 102nd in 2022 and 107th in 2021.

The 2026 ranking is particularly significant because it is the country's highest placement since 2017, when Sri Lanka was ranked 95th. In 2018, the country slipped to 99th place before improving to 96th in 2019. It was ranked 97th in 2020 before dropping to 107th in 2021, the weakest position recorded during the past decade.

From that low point of 107th place in 2021, Sri Lanka has now climbed 13 positions to reach 94th place in 2026, reflecting a steady upward trend in the strength of the Sri Lankan passport.

The Henley Passport Index, which is regarded as one of the world's leading measures of passport strength and global mobility, ranks 199 passports based on access to 227 destinations without requiring a prior visa. The index is compiled using exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and is widely used as a benchmark for measuring global travel freedom.

The improvement in Sri Lanka's ranking comes amid increasing international engagement, expanding tourism links, growing labour migration opportunities and broader diplomatic relations with countries around the world.

At the top of the 2026 rankings, Singapore retained its position as the world's most powerful passport, providing visa-free access to 192 destinations.

The latest ranking is likely to be viewed as a positive indicator of Sri Lanka's growing international connectivity, as passport strength is often considered a reflection of diplomatic relations, global mobility, ease of travel and international confidence in a country's citizens.