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	74	49
Europe 50 countries	59	71	46
North America 23 countries	43	53	34
Oceania 14 countries	39	43	44
Asia 44 countries	31	30	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	83	90	76
Australia and New Zealand 2 countries	78	93	63
Western Europe 9 countries	71	83	60
North America 3 countries	71	84	58
British Isles 2 countries	68	80	57
South America 12 countries	61	74	49
Southern Europe 16 countries	61	76	47
Baltic Countries 3 countries	51	66	36
Eastern Asia 6 countries	49	54	45
Central America 7 countries	47	55	39
Southern Africa 5 countries	47	53	40
Eastern Europe 11 countries	44	57	30
Southeast Asia 11 countries	38	35	46
Micronesia 5 countries	37	40	16
Caribbean 13 countries	35	45	25
Melanesia 4 countries	35	36	34
Central Africa 9 countries	29	34	20
Southern and Central Asia 14 countries	28	30	27
Eastern Africa 17 countries	23	24	24
Polynesia 3 countries	23	23	Not enough data
Middle East 17 countries	21	23	20
Western Africa 16 countries	18	19	17
Northern Africa 7 countries	12	9	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. Barbados	40	71	+31
2. Guyana	24	53	+29
3. Cape Verde	56	80	+24
4. Myanmar	15	38	+23
5. United Arab Emirates	2	23	+20
6. Iraq	3	22	+20
7. Malaysia	8	27	+20
8. China	47	66	+19
9. Syria	9	27*	+19
10. Saudi Arabia	5	22	+17

Legal Progress Ahead of Public Opinion

Country	Legal Index	Public Opinion Index	Difference
1. Moldova	66	8	-57
2. Greece	91	40	-51
3. Bolivia	87	38	-49
4. Ecuador	90	42	-48
5. Croatia	81	33	-48
6. Antigua and Barbuda	60	17*	-44
7. Mongolia	60	17	-42
8. Colombia	92	50	-42
9. Haiti	52	11	-41
10. Armenia	46	5	-41

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

* 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
Hate crime protections	40	Sexual orientation and gender identity	×1.00
		Sexual orientation only	×0.50
		Protected in some contexts	×0.30
		No protections	×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
Bathroom access	20	Protected	×1.00
		No explicit protections	×0.80
		Partially restricted	×0.50
		Restricted	×0.20
		Restricted (enforced with penalties or fines)	×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
2026 (current year)	0.75⁰	1
2025	0.75⁰	1
2024	0.75¹	0.75
2023	0.75²	0.5625
2022	0.75³	0.421875
2021	0.75⁴	0.31640625
2020	0.75⁵	0.2373046875
2019	0.75⁶	0.177978515625
2018	0.75⁷	0.13348388671875
2017	0.75⁸	0.10011291503906
2016	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.