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	59	71	46
North America 23 countries	43	53	34
Oceania 14 countries	38	42	44
Asia 44 countries	30	29	32
Africa 54 countries	23	24	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	79	95	63
North America 3 countries	72	86	58
Western Europe 9 countries	71	83	60
British Isles 2 countries	69	81	57
South America 12 countries	61	73	49
Southern Europe 16 countries	61	75	47
Baltic Countries 3 countries	50	65	36
Eastern Asia 6 countries	48	53	45
Southern Africa 5 countries	47	54	40
Central America 7 countries	46	54	39
Eastern Europe 11 countries	44	56	31
Southeast Asia 11 countries	38	34	46
Micronesia 5 countries	35	38	16
Caribbean 13 countries	35	44	25
Melanesia 4 countries	34	36	34
Southern and Central Asia 14 countries	28	29	27
Central Africa 9 countries	28	32	20
Eastern Africa 17 countries	22	22	24
Middle East 17 countries	21	23	20
Polynesia 3 countries	21	21	Not enough data
Western Africa 16 countries	17	17	17
Northern Africa 7 countries	12	8	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	71	+33
2. Guyana	22	53	+32
3. Cape Verde	55	80	+25
4. Myanmar	14	38	+23
5. United Arab Emirates	0	23	+22
6. China	45	66	+21
7. Iraq	3	22	+20
8. Malaysia	8	27	+19
9. Syria	9	27*	+18
10. Uganda	0	18	+18

Legal Progress Ahead of Public Opinion

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