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.
Loading map of LGBT rights...
Equality Index ?
0 (Less Equal)
100 (More Equal)

Equality Index by Continent

Average LGBTQ+ Equality Index scores of each continent.

ContinentEquality IndexLegal IndexPublic 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.

RegionEquality IndexLegal IndexPublic 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
Show 18 More

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.

CountryEquality IndexLegal IndexPublic Opinion Index
1. Isle of Man90 / 10090 / 100
2. Iceland909486
3. Canada9010079
4. Uruguay8610073
5. Norway869081
6. Denmark869873
7. Netherlands859673
8. Spain849871
9. Germany849870
10. Australia849473
11. Malta8310065
12. United Kingdom828975
13. United States829767
14. Sweden828776
15. Brazil829866
16. Argentina829767
17. Andorra818873
18. Cuba818973
19. Chile7910059
20. Mexico7810057
21. Switzerland788769
22. France789363
23. New Zealand788867
24. Belgium778767
25. South Africa769359
26. Austria769457
27. Finland758763
28. Luxembourg758763
29. Ireland738660
30. San Marino737571
31. Fiji7272
32. Costa Rica729251
33. Colombia719647
34. Liechtenstein717369
35. Portugal698950
36. Israel698851
37. Cape Verde696177
38. Slovenia688848
39. Vanuatu6767
40. Czech Republic677459
41. Taiwan668647
42. Nepal668052
43. Vatican City6666
44. Italy657554
45. Japan647356
46. Ecuador648840
47. Belize6363
48. India637947
49. Greece628638
50. Mozambique606556
51. Angola607347
52. Kosovo6060
53. Barbados6060
54. Bolivia608237
55. Marshall Islands5858
56. Suriname5858
57. Monaco586551
58. Estonia588036
59. Laos5858
60. Croatia588233
61. Philippines586254
62. Guinea-Bissau5757
63. Bhutan5757
64. Mauritius576252
65. Peru577638
66. Botswana567537
67. Namibia555555
68. Nauru5555
69. Cyprus557633
70. South Korea546938
71. Sao Tome and Principe536443
72. Venezuela536047
73. Seychelles5353
74. Thailand526638
75. Vietnam526638
76. Bahamas5151
77. Latvia517627
78. Nicaragua516339
79. Hungary516339
80. Equatorial Guinea5151
81. Guatemala517031
82. Singapore506734
83. Slovakia506238
84. Democratic Republic of the Congo5050
85. El Salvador496633
86. Samoa4949
87. Honduras496929
88. Federated States of Micronesia4949
89. Tajikistan4949
90. Montenegro487916
91. Palau4848
92. Poland475340
93. Romania476825
94. Bulgaria466825
95. Lithuania466526
96. Cambodia456029
97. Bosnia and Herzegovina447117
98. Bahrain444542
99. Antigua and Barbuda447117
100. Panama435235
101. Djibouti4343
102. Serbia436719
103. Albania437511
104. China435530
105. North Macedonia426915
106. Mongolia42786
107. Kazakhstan427113
108. Kiribati4242
109. Lesotho416319
110. Paraguay414735
111. Tonga4040
112. Dominican Republic404732
113. Georgia39699
114. Turkey385323
115. Gabon386114
116. Sri Lanka373440
117. Ukraine376014
118. Trinidad and Tobago374727
119. Saint Kitts and Nevis365715
120. Kyrgyzstan366011
121. Benin365714
122. Papua New Guinea3535
123. Grenada355218
124. Uzbekistan3535
125. Burkina Faso35636
126. Syria343336
127. Madagascar345811
128. Republic of the Congo345711
129. Mali34607
130. Tuvalu3434
131. Haiti335710
132. Moldova33607
133. Timor-Leste335314
134. Armenia33605
135. Pakistan324322
136. Eswatini324322
137. Belarus325014
138. Jamaica314616
139. Turkmenistan3131
140. Rwanda30546
141. Lebanon303723
142. Niger28506
143. Guyana283323
144. Saint Lucia273817
145. Maldives2727
146. Zimbabwe27468
147. Côte d’Ivoire263913
148. Sierra Leone26457
149. Kenya264011
150. Liberia25419
151. Jordan24454
152. Azerbaijan24444
153. Dominica243414
154. Morocco231433
155. Solomon Islands2323
156. Russia232917
157. Bangladesh233411
158. South Sudan2222
159. Myanmar222717
160. Burundi213210
161. Comoros2121
162. Indonesia212319
163. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines20338
164. Ghana20337
165. Kuwait1919
166. Tunisia192314
167. Togo182610
168. Zambia18287
169. Malawi17305
170. Sudan171915
171. Tanzania172113
172. Algeria17726
173. Guinea16266
174. Chad16293
175. Iraq15624
176. Malaysia151119
177. Senegal14263
178. Qatar1414
179. Eritrea1414
180. Saudi Arabia13025
181. Cameroon12159
182. Oman1111
183. Ethiopia111110
184. Egypt111210
185. United Arab Emirates1010
186. Gambia10173
187. Nigeria9108
188. Central African Republic77
189. Uganda7103
190. Libya77
191. Iran694
192. Palestine675
193. North Korea33
194. Mauritania305
195. Somalia22
196. Afghanistan222
197. Brunei22
198. Yemen00

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

IssueTotal Possible ScoreStatusFactor
Homosexual activity100Legal×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 marriage60Legal×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 Issues45Imprisonment 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 gender40Legal, surgery not required×1.00
Illegal×0.00
Legal, but requires surgery×0.70
Legal recognition of non-binary gender30Recognized×1.00
Not legally recognized×0.00
Intersex only×0.70
LGBT discrimination25Illegal×1.00
No protections×0.00
Illegal in some contexts×0.50
LGBT employment discrimination20Sexual orientation and gender identity×1.00
No protections×0.00
Sexual orientation only×0.50
LGBT housing discrimination20Sexual orientation and gender identity×1.00
Sexual orientation only×0.50
No protections×0.00
Same-sex adoption15Legal×1.00
Married couples only×0.50
Single only×0.40
Step-child adoption only×0.20
Illegal×0.00
Serving openly in military15Legal×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 MSMs10Legal×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 therapy15Banned×1.00
Not banned×0.00
Equal age of consent10Equal×1.00
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.