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
Europe 50 countries	60	73	47
South America 12 countries	60	75	45
North America 23 countries	45	56	34
Oceania 14 countries	44	48	45
Asia 44 countries	31	33	30
Africa 54 countries	25	29	20

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	85	92	78
Australia and New Zealand 2 countries	78	92	64
North America 2 countries	77	91	64
Western Europe 9 countries	73	83	64
British Islands 2 countries	72	83	61
Southern Europe 16 countries	61	76	47
South America 12 countries	60	75	45
Baltic Countries 3 countries	53	71	35
Central America 8 countries	51	61	41
Eastern Asia 6 countries	48	57	43
Micronesia 5 countries	45	48	16
Eastern Europe 10 countries	45	56	33
Southern Africa 5 countries	45	53	36
Southeast Asia 11 countries	37	39	39
Caribbean 13 countries	37	48	25
Melanesia 4 countries	36	40	34
Central Africa 9 countries	33	39	23
Polynesia 3 countries	31	31	Not enough data
Southern and Central Asia 14 countries	29	32	26
Middle East 18 countries	24	29	21
Eastern Africa 17 countries	23	26	19
Western Africa 16 countries	22	28	15
Northern Africa 7 countries	13	8	18

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. Uganda	0	25	+25
2. United Arab Emirates	0	25	+25
3. Cape Verde	52	77	+25
4. Algeria	4	22	+18
5. Saudi Arabia	7	25	+18
6. Sri Lanka	20	37	+17
7. Yemen	0	17	+17
8. Iraq	6	22	+16
9. Mauritania	0	16	+16
10. Libya	3	19	+16

Legal Progress Ahead of Public Opinion

Country	Legal Index	Public Opinion Index	Difference
1. Antigua and Barbuda	71	17	-55
2. Georgia	66	12	-54
3. Moldova	62	8	-54
4. Bolivia	87	33	-54
5. Greece	93	43	-50
6. Croatia	85	35	-50
7. Estonia	90	42	-48
8. Cyprus	84	36	-48
9. Colombia	98	52	-46
10. Armenia	51	6	-45

New for developers: The Equality Index is now available via Equaldex's API.

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

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	×0.00
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
		Restricted for minors	×0.70
		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
		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
		Single only	×0.40
		Step-child adoption only	×0.20
		Illegal	×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
Intersex infant surgery	20	Full ban	×1.00
		Parental approval required	×0.30
		Not banned	×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
		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
2024 (current year)	0.75⁰	1
2023	0.75⁰	1
2022	0.75¹	0.75
2021	0.75²	0.5625
2020	0.75³	0.421875
2019	0.75⁴	0.31640625
2018	0.75⁵	0.2373046875
2017	0.75⁶	0.177978515625
2016	0.75⁷	0.13348388671875
2015	0.75⁸	0.10011291503906
2014	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.
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.