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	71	46
North America 23 countries	43	53	34
Oceania 14 countries	40	44	44
Asia 44 countries	30	31	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	83	90	76
Australia and New Zealand 2 countries	77	91	63
North America 3 countries	73	88	58
British Isles 2 countries	71	84	58
Western Europe 9 countries	70	80	60
South America 12 countries	61	73	49
Southern Europe 16 countries	61	75	47
Baltic Countries 3 countries	51	66	36
Eastern Asia 6 countries	48	53	44
Southern Africa 5 countries	47	53	40
Central America 7 countries	46	54	39
Eastern Europe 11 countries	43	55	31
Micronesia 5 countries	40	43	16
Southeast Asia 11 countries	39	36	46
Melanesia 4 countries	36	37	34
Caribbean 13 countries	35	45	26
Central Africa 9 countries	28	33	20
Southern and Central Asia 14 countries	28	29	27
Eastern Africa 17 countries	23	23	24
Middle East 17 countries	22	24	20
Polynesia 3 countries	21	21	Not enough data
Western Africa 16 countries	20	23	16
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	38	75	+36
2. Guyana	22	53	+32
3. Cape Verde	55	80	+26
4. Myanmar	13	38	+25
5. United Arab Emirates	0	23	+22
6. China	42	64	+22
7. Iraq	3	22	+19
8. Syria	8	27*	+19
9. Saudi Arabia	3	22	+19
10. Uganda	1	18	+18

Legal Progress Ahead of Public Opinion

Country	Legal Index	Public Opinion Index	Difference
1. Moldova	67	8	-58
2. Greece	92	40	-51
3. Mongolia	67	17	-49
4. Bolivia	87	38	-48
5. Ecuador	89	42	-47
6. Croatia	80	33	-47
7. Cyprus	83	36	-47
8. Antigua and Barbuda	60	17*	-43
9. Colombia	92	50	-41
10. Montenegro	75	35	-40

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	95	100	90
2. Norway	87	88	87
3. Uruguay	84	94	74
4. Spain	83	100	67
5. Denmark	81	93	69
6. Andorra	81	87	74
7. Chile	80	100	61
8. Malta	80	100	61
9. Germany	80	100	61
10. Cuba	80	92	68
11. Canada	79	96	61
12. Australia	78	94	61
13. Portugal	77	94	60
14. New Zealand	77	88	65
15. Brazil	76	95	57
16. Sweden	75	85	65
17. Belgium	75	88	61
18. France	74	90	59
19. Finland	74	82	66
20. Argentina	74	87	61
21. Netherlands	74	83	65
22. Ireland	73	86	59
23. Austria	71	83	60
24. Colombia	71	92	50
25. Mexico	70	84	56
26. United States	70	84	56
27. Nepal	69	71	68
28. United Kingdom	69	82	56
29. Costa Rica	69	85	54
30. Liechtenstein	69	69	68
31. Italy	68	76	60
32. Cape Verde	68	55	80
33. Luxembourg	67	82	52
34. Czechia	67	72	63
35. South Africa	67	77	58
36. Switzerland	67	70	64
37. San Marino	67	63	71*
38. Greece	66	92	40
39. Ecuador	65	89	42
40. Thailand	65	63	67
41. Slovenia	65	81	48
42. Bolivia	62	87	38
43. Israel	62	74	51
44. Seychelles	61	55	66*
45. Cyprus	60	83	36
46. Taiwan	59	67	51
47. Estonia	59	73	44
48. Philippines	58	57	59
49. Croatia	57	80	33
50. Barbados	57	38	75
51. Montenegro	55	75	35
52. Fiji	55	55	—
53. India	55	56	53
54. Peru	54	64	45
55. Timor-Leste	54	49	60
56. Monaco	53	56	51*
57. Mauritius	53	55	52
58. China	53	42	64
59. Botswana	53	54	51
60. Bhutan	52	54	50*
61. Venezuela	52	48	56
62. Japan	52	53	51
63. Vietnam	51	50	53
64. Mozambique	51	55	47
65. Poland	50	57	43
66. Bosnia and Herzegovina	50	63	37
67. South Korea	50	60	39
68. Serbia	49	65	33
69. Slovakia	49	64	33
70. Marshall Islands	49	49	—
71. Hungary	49	57	40
72. Belize	48	54	43
73. Ukraine	48	57	39
74. Kosovo	48	66	30
75. North Macedonia	48	64	32
76. Federated States of Micronesia	48	48	—
77. Albania	47	67	28
78. Lithuania	47	66	28
79. Sao Tome and Principe	47	49	44
80. Latvia	46	58	35
81. Honduras	46	58	33
82. Cambodia	46	41	51
83. Singapore	46	42	49
84. Nicaragua	45	50	40
85. Laos	45	40	50
86. Romania	44	55	33
87. Namibia	44	54	33
88. Nauru	43	43	—
89. Lesotho	43	53	32
90. Angola	42	50	35
91. Mongolia	42	67	17
92. El Salvador	41	48	35
93. Suriname	41	59	23
94. Guinea-Bissau	40	40	—
95. Vanuatu	39	45	34*
96. Bulgaria	39	52	27
97. Panama	39	43	34
98. Equatorial Guinea	38	38	—
99. Antigua and Barbuda	38	60	17*
100. Guyana	37	22	53
101. Bahrain	37	33	42*
102. Moldova	37	67	8
103. Dominican Republic	36	40	33
104. Rwanda	36	40	31
105. Djibouti	35	35	—
106. Guatemala	35	38	31
107. Vatican City	35	35	—
108. Paraguay	34	38	31
109. Pakistan	34	37	31
110. Saint Lucia	34	51	17*
111. Saint Kitts and Nevis	33	52	15*
112. Turkey	32	32	33
113. Bahamas	32	48	17
114. Tajikistan	32	32	—
115. Georgia	32	50	13
116. Dominica	32	49	14*
117. Madagascar	32	41	22
118. Palau	31	47	16*
119. North Korea	31	31	—
120. Republic of the Congo	30	44	17
121. Samoa	30	30	—
122. Sri Lanka	29	24	34
123. Benin	29	42	16
124. Central African Republic	29	29	—
125. Kiribati	28	28	—
126. Papua New Guinea	28	28	—
127. Haiti	28	45	11
128. Eswatini	28	28	27
129. Russia	27	32	23
130. Belarus	27	38	16
131. Trinidad and Tobago	26	25	27
132. Niger	26	40	12
133. Bangladesh	25	18	33
134. Myanmar	25	13	38
135. Armenia	25	45	5
136. Gabon	25	36	13
137. Côte d’Ivoire	25	35	14
138. Tuvalu	24	24	—
139. Grenada	23	30	17
140. Kazakhstan	23	35	11
141. Solomon Islands	23	23	—
142. Burkina Faso	22	34	10
143. Democratic Republic of the Congo	22	35	8*
144. Kenya	21	24	19
145. Indonesia	21	30	11
146. Jamaica	21	24	18
147. Kyrgyzstan	20	31	10
148. Uzbekistan	20	21	18*
149. Palestine	19	29	8
150. Ghana	18	20	17
151. Jordan	18	30	6
152. Turkmenistan	18	18	—
153. Syria	18	8	27*
154. Malaysia	17	9	25
155. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	17	26	8*
156. Azerbaijan	17	28	5
157. Lebanon	16	18	15
158. Liberia	16	24	9
159. Comoros	16	12	19*
160. Guinea	15	16	14
161. Nigeria	15	15	15
162. Sierra Leone	14	22	6
163. Tunisia	14	13	15
164. Chad	14	14	14
165. Tanzania	14	13	14
166. Sudan	14	9	19
167. Morocco	13	12	15
168. Libya	13	8	19
169. Algeria	13	7	19
170. Zimbabwe	13	16	10
171. Iraq	13	3	22
172. Saudi Arabia	12	3	22
173. Ethiopia	12	10	13
174. United Arab Emirates	11	0	23
175. Yemen	10	4	17*
176. Burundi	10	10	10*
177. Mauritania	10	4	16
178. Egypt	10	5	15
179. Tonga	10	10	—
180. Uganda	9	1	18
181. Togo	9	6	12
182. South Sudan	8	8	—
183. Zambia	8	9	8
184. Qatar	8	7	9*
185. Mali	8	6	9
186. Cameroon	8	4	11
187. Malawi	8	10	5
188. Maldives	6	5	8*
189. Kuwait	6	6	6*
190. Iran	5	7	3
191. Eritrea	5	5	—
192. Senegal	4	5	3
193. Oman	3	3	—
194. Brunei	3	3	—
195. Gambia	3	2	4
196. Afghanistan	1	0	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 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
		Sexual orientation only	×0.50
		Gender identity 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.