Bangladesh's passport has made slight improvement, but shared ranking with countries like Iran, Congo and Eretria.
The country improved its ranking by a notch to 98 in the 2020 Henley Passport Index, which measures the accessibility of different countries' citizens to a destination without prior visa.
Bangladeshi passport holders can now enter 41 countries without a prior visa, according to the January index.
The United Kingdom (UK)-based global citizenship advisory firm Henley & Partners unveiled the rankings recently on its website.
According to the index, Bangladesh shares the position (98th) with Iran, Congo and Eritrea.
The ranking is prepared based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which maintains the world's largest and most accurate database of travel information.
In 2019 edition of the Index, Bangladesh ranked 99th sharing the position with Iran and Eritrea with access to 40 countries.
The index includes 199 different passports and 227 different travel destinations.
The top two countries in the passport index are Japan and Singapore whose nationals have access to 191 and 190 destinations respectively.
"Japan holds top spot on the Henley Passport Index for the third year running, with citizens able to access 191 destinations without having to obtain a visa in advance," the report said.
Germany and South Korea shares the third position as their passport holders can visit 189 destinations without prior visa.
Fourth position is shared by Finland and Italy, while Denmark, Luxembourg and Spain hold fifth position.
The report said the United States (US) and the UK continue their downward trajectory on the index's rankings.
"While both countries remain in the top 10, their shared 8th-place position is a significant decline from the number one spot they jointly held in 2015," the report said.
Dr. Christian H. Kaelin, Chairman of Henley & Partners and the introducer of the passport index concept, said the latest ranking provides a fascinating insight into a rapidly changing world.
"Asian countries' dominance of the top spots is a clear argument for the benefits of open-door policies and the introduction of mutually beneficial trade agreements," he said.
The report said Afghanistan remains at the bottom of the index, with its nationals only able to visit a mere 26 destinations visa-free.
Afghanistan ranks 107th or the lowest position in the index with score of 26, which follows Iraq at 106th and Syria at 105th position.
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