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	58	70	46
North America 23 countries	43	53	33
Oceania 14 countries	41	45	44
Asia 44 countries	32	33	32
Africa 54 countries	24	26	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	88	63
North America 2 countries	74	90	59
British Isles 2 countries	71	84	59
Western Europe 9 countries	71	82	60
South America 12 countries	61	73	49
Southern Europe 16 countries	60	74	47
Baltic Countries 3 countries	51	68	35
Southern Africa 5 countries	50	57	43
Eastern Asia 6 countries	50	55	46
Central America 8 countries	49	59	39
Eastern Europe 10 countries	44	55	33
Micronesia 5 countries	43	46	16
Southeast Asia 11 countries	40	40	44
Melanesia 4 countries	36	37	34
Caribbean 13 countries	34	43	25
Central Africa 9 countries	31	36	22
Southern and Central Asia 14 countries	29	32	26
Polynesia 3 countries	23	23	Not enough data
Middle East 18 countries	22	25	20
Eastern Africa 17 countries	22	22	23
Western Africa 16 countries	20	24	17
Northern Africa 7 countries	12	7	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. Cape Verde	49	80	+31
2. Guyana	25	53	+29
3. Barbados	44	71	+27
4. United Arab Emirates	0	25	+25
5. Saudi Arabia	1	25	+24
6. China	42	66	+24
7. Iraq	3	22	+19
8. Algeria	4	22	+19
9. Syria	10	27*	+17
10. Uganda	1	18	+17

Legal Progress Ahead of Public Opinion

Country	Legal Index	Public Opinion Index	Difference
1. Moldova	65	8	-56
2. Greece	92	39	-53
3. Bolivia	85	37	-48
4. Malta	100	53	-47
5. Ecuador	88	41	-47
6. Colombia	98	52	-46
7. Croatia	79	34	-45
8. Mongolia	63	22	-41
9. Cyprus	77	36	-41
10. Estonia	83	43	-39

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