The 2023 edition of the Henley Passport Index, which rates the global travel documents, has placed Bangladesh's passport at 96th position, up five places from the last index.

In the last index, Bangladesh ranked 101st.

The Bangladeshi passport entitles visa-free travel to 40 destinations, according to the latest ranking by Henley Passport Index, released yesterday.

Japan has held the top spot in the index, which measures global travel freedom in terms of how much visa-free and visa-on-demand access to the world different citizens enjoy, for five long years.

However, in the latest release, Japan has dropped to third place, and Singapore is now the reigning champion thanks to its citizens' ability to travel to 193 of the world's 227 countries without a visa.

Afghanistan is at the bottom of the list as its citizens can access 27 countries without a visa. Yemen, Pakistan, Syria, and Iraq round up the bottom five.

The Henley Passport Index, the only one of its kind based on unique data from the International Air Transport Authority (IATA), has historical data going back 18 years. The database lists 227 travel destinations and 199 passports.

The index is updated every quarter and is regarded as the go-to resource for global citizens and sovereign states for determining where a passport ranks on the scale of global mobility.