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	50
Europe 50 countries	59	71	46
North America 23 countries	43	52	34
Oceania 14 countries	42	45	44
Asia 44 countries	31	32	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	64
North America 3 countries	74	88	59
British Isles 2 countries	71	84	58
Western Europe 9 countries	71	82	61
South America 12 countries	61	73	50
Southern Europe 16 countries	60	74	47
Baltic Countries 3 countries	53	70	36
Eastern Asia 6 countries	49	55	45
Southern Africa 5 countries	49	56	41
Central America 7 countries	46	54	39
Micronesia 5 countries	44	47	16
Eastern Europe 11 countries	43	55	30
Southeast Asia 11 countries	40	38	47
Melanesia 4 countries	38	39	34
Caribbean 13 countries	34	43	25
Southern and Central Asia 14 countries	29	31	27
Central Africa 9 countries	29	34	20
Eastern Africa 17 countries	23	23	24
Middle East 17 countries	22	24	21
Western Africa 16 countries	20	23	16
Polynesia 3 countries	20	20	Not enough data
Northern Africa 7 countries	13	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. Guyana	24	53	+30
2. Barbados	44	71	+27
3. Cape Verde	54	80	+26
4. China	42	66	+23
5. Myanmar	14	38	+23
6. United Arab Emirates	0	23	+22
7. Bangladesh	13	33	+20
8. Iraq	3	22	+19
9. Saudi Arabia	3	22	+19
10. Malaysia	9	27	+19

Legal Progress Ahead of Public Opinion

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