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	62	75	49
Europe 50 countries	58	71	46
North America 23 countries	41	50	33
Oceania 14 countries	41	44	44
Asia 44 countries	31	32	32
Africa 54 countries	23	25	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	81	89	74
Australia and New Zealand 2 countries	75	87	63
North America 2 countries	73	88	59
Western Europe 9 countries	71	82	60
British Isles 2 countries	70	83	57
South America 12 countries	62	75	49
Southern Europe 16 countries	60	74	47
Baltic Countries 3 countries	52	70	35
Eastern Asia 6 countries	49	55	46
Southern Africa 5 countries	48	54	43
Central America 8 countries	48	56	39
Micronesia 5 countries	43	46	16
Eastern Europe 11 countries	43	55	30
Southeast Asia 11 countries	39	38	45
Melanesia 4 countries	34	36	34
Caribbean 13 countries	33	40	25
Central Africa 9 countries	29	34	22
Southern and Central Asia 14 countries	29	32	26
Polynesia 3 countries	23	23	Not enough data
Middle East 17 countries	22	24	21
Eastern Africa 17 countries	21	21	23
Western Africa 16 countries	19	22	17
Northern Africa 7 countries	11	6	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. Cape Verde	49	80	+31
2. Barbados	42	71	+28
3. Guyana	26	53	+28
4. China	42	66	+24
5. United Arab Emirates	0	23	+23
6. Malaysia	8	29	+21
7. Saudi Arabia	3	22	+20
8. Iraq	3	22	+19
9. Uganda	1	18	+17
10. Syria	10	27*	+17

Legal Progress Ahead of Public Opinion

Country	Legal Index	Public Opinion Index	Difference
1. Moldova	64	8	-55
2. Greece	90	39	-51
3. Malta	100	53	-47
4. Ecuador	88	41	-47
5. Bolivia	85	39	-47
6. Colombia	98	52	-46
7. Croatia	79	33	-45
8. Cyprus	78	36	-42
9. Lithuania	68	26	-42
10. Mongolia	63	22	-42

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

* 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 uncertain	×0.20
		Male illegal, female legal	×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
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
		Sexual orientation only	×0.50
		Gender identity 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
2025 (current year)	0.75⁰	1
2024	0.75⁰	1
2023	0.75¹	0.75
2022	0.75²	0.5625
2021	0.75³	0.421875
2020	0.75⁴	0.31640625
2019	0.75⁵	0.2373046875
2018	0.75⁶	0.177978515625
2017	0.75⁷	0.13348388671875
2016	0.75⁸	0.10011291503906
2015	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.