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.

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Equality Index ?

0 (Less Equal)

100 (More Equal)

Equality Index by Continent

Average LGBTQ+ Equality Index scores of each continent.

Continent	Equality Index	Legal Index	Public Opinion Index
South America 12 countries	63 / 100	78 / 100	48 / 100
Europe 51 countries	61	76	44
Oceania 14 countries	52	54	70
North America 23 countries	50	63	33
Asia 44 countries	33	40	27
Africa 54 countries	29	38	18

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
North America 2 countries	86 / 100	98 / 100	73 / 100
Nordic Countries 5 countries	84	91	76
British Islands 3 countries	82	88	68
Australia and New Zealand 2 countries	81	91	70
Western Europe 9 countries	76	87	65
South America 12 countries	63	78	48
Southern Europe 16 countries	62	79	41
Central America 8 countries	57	72	39
Southern Africa 5 countries	52	66	38
Baltic Countries 3 countries	52	74	29
Micronesia 5 countries	50	50	Not enough data
Melanesia 4 countries	49	49	Not enough data
Eastern Asia 6 countries	45	60	35
Eastern Europe 10 countries	43	59	28
Polynesia 3 countries	41	41	Not enough data
Caribbean 13 countries	40	52	22
Southeast Asia 11 countries	37	45	29
Southern and Central Asia 14 countries	36	44	22
Central Africa 9 countries	36	45	21
Eastern Africa 17 countries	27	35	16
Western Africa 16 countries	27	38	12
Middle East 18 countries	26	34	22
Northern Africa 7 countries	16	15	20

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World Equality Index

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

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.

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.

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
		Illegal (other penalty)	×0.30
		Male illegal, female legal	×0.50
		Male illegal, female uncertain	×0.40
		Illegal (death penalty as punishment)	×0.00
		Illegal (up to life in prison as punishment)	×0.10
		Illegal (imprisonment as punishment)	×0.20
Same-sex marriage	60	Legal	×1.00
		Other type of partnership	×0.50
		Foreign same-sex marriages recognized only	×0.40
		Unrecognized, same-sex marriage and civil unions banned	×0.30
		Unrecognized, only same-sex marriage official	×0.20
		Unrecognized	×0.10
		Unregistered cohabitation	×0.10
		Not legal	×0.00
		Civil unions	×0.70
Censorship of LGBT Issues	45	Imprisonment as punishment	×0.00
		Fine as punishment	×0.30
		Other punishment	×0.15
		No censorship	×1.00
		State-enforced	×0.40
Right to change legal gender	40	Legal, surgery not required	×1.00
		Illegal	×0.00
		Legal, but requires surgery	×0.70
Legal recognition of non-binary gender	30	Recognized	×1.00
		Not legally recognized	×0.00
		Intersex only	×0.70
LGBT discrimination	25	Illegal	×1.00
		No protections	×0.00
		Illegal in some contexts	×0.50
LGBT employment discrimination	20	Sexual orientation and gender identity	×1.00
		No protections	×0.00
		Sexual orientation only	×0.50
LGBT housing discrimination	20	Sexual orientation and gender identity	×1.00
		Sexual orientation only	×0.50
		No protections	×0.00
Same-sex adoption	15	Legal	×1.00
		Married couples only	×0.50
		Single only	×0.40
		Step-child adoption only	×0.20
		Illegal	×0.00
Serving openly in military	15	Legal	×1.00
		Don't Ask, Don't Tell	×0.50
		Illegal	×0.00
		Lesbians, gays, bisexuals permitted, transgender people banned	×0.70
Blood donations by MSMs	10	Legal	×1.00
		Banned (indefinite deferral)	×0.00
		Banned (5-year deferral)	×0.10
		Banned (1-year deferral)	×0.15
		Banned (6-month deferral)	×0.20
		Banned (3-month deferral)	×0.30
Conversion therapy	15	Banned	×1.00
Conversion therapy	15	Not banned	×0.00
Equal age of consent	10	Equal	×1.00
Equal age of consent	10	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.

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. In some regions with no recent public opinion data, older data is used to score the region.

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.