LGBT Equality Index

The most LGBT-Friendly Countries in the World.

The Equality Index measures the current status of LGBT rights, laws, and freedoms as well as public attitudes towards LGBT people.

Equality Index?

0 (Less Equal)

100 (More Equal)

Public Opinion vs. Legal Rights

North America

South America

Europe

Africa

Asia

Oceania

Equality Index by Continent

Average LGBTQ+ Equality Index scores of each continent.

Continent	Equality Index	Legal Index	Public Opinion Index
South America 12 countries	61	73	49
Europe 50 countries	59	71	46
North America 23 countries	43	53	34
Oceania 14 countries	40	44	44
Asia 44 countries	30	30	32
Africa 54 countries	23	24	22

Equality Index by Region

Australia and New Zealand, the Nordic countries, and parts of Europe rank highest in terms of the Equality Index while the Middle East and most of Africa (with the exception of South Africa) rank lowest — both in terms of legal protections and public opinion.

Region	Equality Index	Legal Index	Public Opinion Index
Nordic Countries 5 countries	83	90	76
Australia and New Zealand 2 countries	79	95	63
North America 3 countries	72	87	58
Western Europe 9 countries	71	83	60
British Isles 2 countries	69	81	57
South America 12 countries	61	73	49
Southern Europe 16 countries	61	75	47
Baltic Countries 3 countries	50	65	36
Eastern Asia 6 countries	48	54	45
Southern Africa 5 countries	47	53	40
Central America 7 countries	46	54	39
Eastern Europe 11 countries	44	56	31
Micronesia 5 countries	40	43	16
Southeast Asia 11 countries	38	34	46
Melanesia 4 countries	36	37	34
Caribbean 13 countries	35	45	25
Southern and Central Asia 14 countries	28	29	27
Central Africa 9 countries	28	33	20
Eastern Africa 17 countries	22	22	24
Polynesia 3 countries	22	22	Not enough data
Middle East 17 countries	21	23	20
Western Africa 16 countries	17	17	17
Northern Africa 7 countries	12	8	17

Show 18 More

Largest Disparities

Regions where legal progress and public views don't align. Comparing the legal rights and the public opinion highlights regions where the public's support has advanced past (or fallen behind) legal progress. These may be potential areas for advocacy and change. (Countries without public opinion data are excluded.)

Public Opinion Ahead of Legal Progress

Country	Legal Index	Public Opinion Index	Difference
1. Barbados	38	71	+33
2. Guyana	22	53	+32
3. Cape Verde	55	80	+25
4. Myanmar	13	38	+25
5. United Arab Emirates	0	23	+22
6. China	45	66	+21
7. Iraq	3	22	+20
8. Malaysia	8	27	+19
9. Syria	9	27*	+18
10. Uganda	1	18	+18

Legal Progress Ahead of Public Opinion

Country	Legal Index	Public Opinion Index	Difference
1. Moldova	64	8	-56
2. Greece	92	40	-51
3. Bolivia	87	38	-48
4. Ecuador	89	42	-47
5. Croatia	80	33	-47
6. Mongolia	62	17	-44
7. Antigua and Barbuda	60	17*	-43
8. Colombia	92	50	-42
9. Haiti	51	11	-40
10. Germany	100	60	-40

World Equality Index

Download / API

Which countries are the most LGBT-friendly? The Legal Index scores the legal rights and freedoms LGBTQ+ people have while the Public Opinion Index scores how the general public feels in each region.

Country	Equality Index	Legal Index	Public Opinion Index
1. Iceland	93	96	90
2. Norway	88	90	87
3. Uruguay	87	100	74
4. Spain	83	100	67
5. Denmark	82	94	69
6. New Zealand	81	96	65
7. Malta	80	100	61
8. Chile	80	100	60
9. Germany	80	100	60
10. Andorra	80	86	74
11. Canada	78	96	61
12. Australia	78	95	61
13. Belgium	78	94	61
14. Portugal	77	94	60
15. Netherlands	77	89	64
16. Cuba	77	87	66
17. Finland	76	86	66
18. Sweden	75	85	65
19. Brazil	75	93	56
20. France	74	90	58
21. Argentina	74	87	61
22. Austria	73	87	60
23. Czechia	72	80	64
24. Nepal	71	75	68
25. Colombia	71	92	50
26. Mexico	71	85	57
27. Switzerland	70	76	64
28. Ireland	70	80	59
29. Costa Rica	69	85	54
30. Liechtenstein	69	69	68
31. Cape Verde	68	55	80
32. United Kingdom	68	81	55
33. United States	68	79	56
34. Luxembourg	67	82	52
35. South Africa	67	77	57
36. San Marino	67	63	71*
37. Italy	66	73	59
38. Greece	66	92	40
39. Ecuador	65	89	42
40. Thailand	65	63	67
41. Slovenia	65	81	48
42. Bolivia	62	87	38
43. Israel	62	73	51
44. Seychelles	61	55	66*
45. Taiwan	59	68	51
46. Estonia	58	73	44
47. Croatia	57	80	33
48. Cyprus	56	75	36
49. Botswana	56	60	51
50. China	56	45	66
51. Montenegro	55	75	35
52. Barbados	55	38	71
53. Fiji	55	55	—
54. Timor-Leste	54	49	60
55. Peru	54	64	44
56. Philippines	54	49	59
57. Japan	53	57	50
58. Monaco	53	56	51*
59. Venezuela	52	48	56
60. Vietnam	51	50	53
61. Mauritius	51	51	52
62. Poland	51	58	43
63. Bhutan	51	51	50*
64. India	51	48	53
65. Bosnia and Herzegovina	50	63	38
66. Serbia	50	67	33
67. Belize	50	56	44
68. Slovakia	49	65	33
69. North Macedonia	49	65	33
70. Marshall Islands	49	49	—
71. Hungary	49	57	40
72. Ukraine	48	58	39
73. Kosovo	48	66	30
74. Mozambique	48	49	47
75. Federated States of Micronesia	48	48	—
76. Cambodia	47	43	51
77. Lithuania	47	66	28
78. Romania	47	60	33
79. Albania	47	65	28
80. Latvia	46	58	35
81. Sao Tome and Principe	46	48	44
82. South Korea	46	53	39
83. Honduras	46	58	33
84. Nicaragua	45	50	40
85. Laos	45	40	50
86. Lesotho	44	55	32
87. Singapore	44	39	49
88. Nauru	43	43	—
89. Angola	42	49	35
90. Bulgaria	42	57	27
91. El Salvador	41	48	35
92. Namibia	41	49	33
93. Suriname	41	59	23
94. Mongolia	40	62	17
95. Tajikistan	40	40	—
96. Vanuatu	39	45	34*
97. Panama	39	43	34
98. Guinea-Bissau	38	40	37*
99. Dominican Republic	38	44	33
100. Equatorial Guinea	38	38	—
101. Antigua and Barbuda	38	60	17*
102. Guyana	37	22	53
103. Bahrain	37	32	42*
104. North Korea	37	37	—
105. Moldova	36	64	8
106. Guatemala	35	38	31
107. Rwanda	35	38	32
108. Paraguay	34	38	31
109. Saint Lucia	34	51	17*
110. Djibouti	34	34	—
111. Saint Kitts and Nevis	33	52	15*
112. Pakistan	33	34	31
113. Turkey	32	32	33
114. Palau	32	48	16*
115. Dominica	32	49	14*
116. Haiti	31	51	11
117. Samoa	31	31	—
118. Vatican City	31	31	—
119. Georgia	30	47	13
120. Bahamas	30	44	16
121. Madagascar	29	36	22
122. Russia	29	35	23
123. Kiribati	28	28	—
124. Sri Lanka	28	22	34
125. Benin	28	40	16
126. Republic of the Congo	28	39	17
127. Belarus	27	38	16
128. Central African Republic	27	27	—
129. Eswatini	27	26	27
130. Trinidad and Tobago	26	25	27
131. Papua New Guinea	26	26	—
132. Myanmar	25	13	38
133. Armenia	25	45	5
134. Bangladesh	25	16	33
135. Tuvalu	24	24	—
136. Gabon	23	33	13
137. Grenada	23	30	17
138. Solomon Islands	23	23	—
139. Côte d’Ivoire	22	30	14
140. Kyrgyzstan	22	34	10
141. Kazakhstan	22	33	11
142. Kenya	21	24	19
143. Democratic Republic of the Congo	21	34	8*
144. Jamaica	21	24	18
145. Azerbaijan	20	35	5
146. Uzbekistan	20	21	18*
147. Syria	18	9	27*
148. Palestine	18	28	8
149. Turkmenistan	18	18	—
150. Malaysia	18	8	27
151. Comoros	17	15	19*
152. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	17	26	8*
153. Jordan	17	27	6
154. Chad	17	20	14
155. Liberia	16	24	9
156. Lebanon	16	17	15
157. Ghana	15	12	18
158. Guinea	14	15	14
159. Tunisia	14	13	15
160. Tanzania	14	13	14
161. Sudan	14	9	19
162. Sierra Leone	13	20	6
163. Libya	13	8	19
164. Saudi Arabia	13	5	22
165. Algeria	13	7	19
166. Morocco	13	10	15
167. Iraq	13	3	22
168. Indonesia	12	13	11
169. Zimbabwe	12	14	10
170. Ethiopia	12	10	13
171. United Arab Emirates	11	0	23
172. Nigeria	11	7	15
173. Tonga	11	11	—
174. Yemen	10	4	17*
175. Mauritania	10	4	16
176. Egypt	10	5	15
177. Burundi	10	9	10*
178. Uganda	9	1	18
179. Togo	9	6	12
180. Niger	9	6	12
181. Cameroon	9	6	11
182. Malawi	8	12	5
183. Burkina Faso	8	6	10
184. Zambia	8	8	8
185. Qatar	8	6	9*
186. Mali	8	6	9
187. South Sudan	7	7	—
188. Eritrea	7	7	—
189. Maldives	6	5	8*
190. Kuwait	6	5	6*
191. Iran	5	7	3
192. Senegal	4	5	3
193. Gambia	3	3	4
194. Oman	3	3	—
195. Brunei	3	3	—
196. Afghanistan	1	0	2*
197. Somalia	0	0	—

* Region's public opinion data is based on less than three surveys

Equality Index Methodology

Equaldex's Equality Index is a rating from 0 to 100 (with 100 being the most equal) to help visualize the legal rights and public attitudes towards LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex...) people in each region. The Equality Index is an average of two indexes: the legal index and the public opinion Index.

Equality Index

Average of Legal Index and Public Opinion Index

Legal Index

The LGBT legal index measures the current legal status of 13 different issues ranging from the legal status of homosexuality, same-sex marriage, transgender rights, LGBT discrimination protections, LGBT censorship laws, and more. Each topic is weighted differently (for example, if same-sex marriage is illegal in a region, it would have a much bigger impact on the score than not allowing LGBT people to serve in the military). Each topic is assigned a "total possible score" and a "score" is assigned based the status of the law using a rating scale that ranges from 0% to 100% (for example, if homosexuality is legal, it would would receive a score of 100, but if it's illegal, it would receve a score of 0.)

If the status of an issue is unknown, not applicable, or no data has not been added to Equaldex, the issue's score is completely discarded and not included in the ranking. In cases where a law varies throughout a region (for example, a country where same-sex marriage is legal in some states or provinces but not others), the score is averaged among all states or provinces, weighted equally.

Past laws that are no longer in effect do not impact the region's current score. New laws that have not gone into effect yet will not impact the region's score until the day it goes into effect.

Legal Index

(Total Possible Score for each issue × Factor of Status of Issue) / Sum of all Total Possible Scores

Show Scoring

Issue	Total Possible Score	Status	Factor
Homosexual activity	100	Legal	×1.00
		Male illegal, female legal	×0.20
		Male illegal, female uncertain	×0.20
		Illegal (other penalty)	×0.15
		Illegal (imprisonment as punishment)	×0.10
		Illegal (up to life in prison as punishment)	×0.05
		Illegal (death penalty as punishment)	×0.00
Same-sex marriage	60	Legal	×1.00
		Civil unions (marriage rights)	×0.80
		Civil unions (limited rights)	×0.70
		Other type of partnership	×0.50
		Foreign same-sex marriages recognized only	×0.40
		Unregistered cohabitation	×0.30
		Unrecognized	×0.10
		Banned	×0.00
Censorship of LGBT issues	40	No censorship	×1.00
		State-enforced	×0.30
		Fine as punishment	×0.20
		Other punishment	×0.10
		Imprisonment as punishment	×0.05
		Death penalty as punishment	×0.00
Right to change legal gender	40	Legal, no restrictions	×1.00
		Legal, but requires medical diagnosis	×0.70
		Legal, but requires surgery	×0.40
		Illegal	×0.00
Gender-affirming care	20	Legal	×1.00
		Legal, but restricted for minors	×0.70
		Legal, but banned for minors	×0.50
		Restricted	×0.30
		Banned	×0.00
Legal recognition of non-binary gender	30	Recognized	×1.00
		Intersex only	×0.70
		Not legally recognized	×0.00
Hate crime protections	40	Sexual orientation and gender identity	×1.00
		Sexual orientation only	×0.50
		Protected in some contexts	×0.30
		No protections	×0.00
LGBT discrimination	20	Illegal	×1.00
		Illegal in some contexts	×0.50
		No protections	×0.00
LGBT employment discrimination	20	Sexual orientation and gender identity	×1.00
		Gender identity only	×0.50
		Sexual orientation only	×0.50
		No protections	×0.00
LGBT housing discrimination	20	Sexual orientation and gender identity	×1.00
		Gender identity only	×0.50
		Sexual orientation only	×0.50
		No protections	×0.00
Same-sex adoption	20	Legal	×1.00
		Married couples only	×0.50
		Second parent adoption only	×0.40
		Single only	×0.20
		Illegal	×0.00
Intersex infant surgery	20	Full ban	×1.00
		Parental approval required	×0.30
		Not banned	×0.00
Serving openly in military	20	Legal	×1.00
		Lesbians, gays, bisexuals permitted, transgender people banned	×0.70
		Don't Ask, Don't Tell	×0.50
		Illegal	×0.00
Blood donations by MSMs	10	Legal	×1.00
		Legal with restrictions	×0.80
		Banned (less than 6-month deferral)	×0.30
		Banned (6-month deferral)	×0.20
		Banned (1-year deferral)	×0.15
		Banned (5-year deferral)	×0.10
		Banned (indefinite deferral)	×0.00
Conversion therapy	10	Banned	×1.00
		Sexual orientation only	×0.50
		Not banned	×0.00
Equal age of consent	10	Equal	×1.00
		Female equal, male N/A	×0.75
		Female equal, male unequal	×0.50
		Unequal	×0.00

Public Opinion Index

The LGBT public opinion index measures the public attitudes towards LGBT people using surveys and polls from reputable organizations. This index is scored based on averaging the results of all surveys in a given region. Generally, the value averaged is usually the most "equal" response in the poll. For example, if a poll asked "Do you support same-sex marriage?" and 56% of people said "yes", the value "56" would be used. In some cases, a survey may be weighted less if the survey is very specific or includes a specific group of people (such as Christians) and might not be a full representation of the overall attitudes of the region.

To better represent current attitudes, surveys are scored using a time-decay weighting method based on the date published. This means that the most recent surveys carry more weight in the public opinion index. Surveys from the current year and the previous year receive full weight. However, for surveys older than two years, an exponential decay of 75% applies each year. This weight decay ensures that the public opinion index is always most influenced by the most recent data, reflecting evolving public attitudes, while still taking into account older surveys to maintain a comprehensive overview. This change went into effect on July 21, 2023.

Note that public opinion data is not available in every region. In these cases, the Equality Index will only be a representation of the legal rights of LGBT people in the region. Additionally, some regions have no recent public opinion data available, so older data is used to score the region.

Public Opinion Index

(Survey Results Value × Survey Weight × Time Decay Factor) / (Survey Weight × Time Decay Factor)

Show Survey Time Decay

Year Survey Published	Time Decay Factor
2026 (current year)	0.75⁰	1
2025	0.75⁰	1
2024	0.75¹	0.75
2023	0.75²	0.5625
2022	0.75³	0.421875
2021	0.75⁴	0.31640625
2020	0.75⁵	0.2373046875
2019	0.75⁶	0.177978515625
2018	0.75⁷	0.13348388671875
2017	0.75⁸	0.10011291503906
2016	0.75⁹	0.075084686279297
(etc.)

Notes

Equaldex's Equality Index is constantly being improved and tracking it over time may not represent changes in equality over time. As more data is contributed to Equaldex, the index becomes more accurate. For example, adding survey results to a region will likely change the region's Equality Index — even more so if there is limited data on the region. In this case, the change in score could represent a change in attitudes in the region, but it may also just be an increase in the index's accuracy.
Global opinion surveys rarely include transgender topics. Especially in more conservative regions, surveys are usually limited to homosexuality or same-sex marriage. Equaldex continues to seek more international transgender public opinion data to make the Equality Index more inclusive.
Regions are ranked based on their raw, unrounded Equality Index scores, but rounded values are used for simplicity.
The model for the Equality Index is evolving, and adjustments to weights and other parameters are likely as we continue to improve its accuracy and relevance.
The Equality Index is updated automatically as data is added to Equaldex and as new laws go into effect. When a new law or survey is added to Equaldex, the index will recalculate within a few hours.