Bangladesh slips one step down in a latest global passport index, now standing even behind war-torn South Sudan in ensuring their citizens' visa-free foreign travels.
Bangladeshi passport is now in 96th position in the world in terms of visa-free access its holders can enjoy, down from the 95th it secured last year as per the ratings done by Henley & Partners.
The country has also suffered the largest individual decline of any nations, dropping 23 ranks on the index since 2008.
Of the 199 countries featured in the index, only 10 countries got the ranking as having less visa-free access around the world than Bangladesh's while at least 185 having more visa-free access than Bangladesh's rating.
The index also shows that even relatively isolated countries like North Korea or war-ravaged ones like South Sudan enjoy more visa-free access in the world than Bangladesh does.
As per the findings, the number of countries where Bangladeshi passport-holders can enjoy visa-free access remained unchanged as 38 since last year.
However, a number of countries like Sri Lanka and South Sudan which were equal or behind Bangladesh in the index just a year ago now apparently offer more freedom of movement than Bangladeshi passports.
Comparative annual data from the index show that the number of countries Bangladeshis can travel sans visa stood at 28 back in 2006.
Although the number rose to a high of 42 countries back in 2010 and again in 2014, it had witnessed a steady decline in recent years.
During the same period (2006 to 2018), India's visa-free access has risen from 25 to 49 while for Sri Lanka, it increased from 22 to 41.
Even people of a tiny landlocked country like Bhutan do have much more freedom of flying to foreign countries than those of Bangladesh.
Published since 2005, The Henley Passport Index does the ranking of all the passports of the world according to the number of countries their holders can travel to visa-free.
The rankings are based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which maintains world's largest and most comprehensive database of travel information, and is enhanced by 'extensive in-house research'.
Germany retains the top spot in the Henley Passport Index for the fifth year in a row, offering its citizens access to 177 countries. The country is closely followed by Singapore which has visa-free access to 176 countries.
Meanwhile, Pakistan, Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan occupy the bottom four ranks in the 2018 index, each having visa-free access to 30 or fewer countries.
"There is no denying that a global mobility divide exists," says Dr. Christian H. Kälin, Group Chairman of Henley & Partners.
"Nonetheless, only a small minority of countries on the Henley Passport Index lost visa-free access in 2018. By and large, countries either improved or maintained their access compared to 2017," he added.
"These findings reflect the fact that, while certain countries are tightening their borders, most are in fact becoming more open, as they seek to tap into the immense economic value that tourism, international commerce and migration can bring."
Dr. Kälin also pointed out that the countries that offer the most credible citizenship-by-investment programmes in the world consistently perform strongly in the indexing.
"More governments than ever before are embracing residence- and citizenship-by-investment programs as a means of stimulating economic development and growth, and an increased number of wealthy and talented individuals are looking to diversify their citizenship portfolios to give themselves and their families greater international opportunity, travel freedom, stability, and security".
