Sri Lanka’s passport has climbed to 94th place in the 2026 Henley Passport Index, its strongest position in several years, according to reporting by NewsFirst and Daily Mirror.
The index ranks 199 passports by the number of destinations their holders can enter without a prior visa, drawing on data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). Sri Lankan passport holders now have visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 39 destinations, NewsFirst reported.
The latest placing marks a steady recovery. Sri Lanka sat at 96th in both 2024 and 2025, 100th in 2023, 102nd in 2022 and 107th in 2021 — its weakest ranking of the past decade. From that low point the passport has since risen 13 places. NewsFirst described the new position as the country’s highest in ten years and its best since 2017, when Sri Lanka was ranked 95th.
Singapore retained the top spot as the world’s most powerful passport, offering visa-free access to 192 destinations.
NewsFirst linked the improvement to Sri Lanka’s widening international engagement, expanding tourism ties, growing labour-migration opportunities and broader diplomatic relations. Passport strength is widely treated as a barometer of a country’s global mobility and the confidence other states place in its travellers.
