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	60	72	49
Europe 50 countries	58	71	46
North America 23 countries	44	55	33
Oceania 14 countries	42	46	44
Asia 44 countries	31	33	30
Africa 54 countries	25	27	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	82	89	74
Australia and New Zealand 2 countries	75	88	63
North America 2 countries	75	91	59
Western Europe 9 countries	71	82	60
British Isles 2 countries	71	83	60
South America 12 countries	60	72	49
Southern Europe 16 countries	60	74	47
Eastern Asia 6 countries	52	59	46
Baltic Countries 3 countries	51	67	35
Central America 8 countries	49	59	39
Southern Africa 5 countries	49	57	40
Eastern Europe 10 countries	44	55	33
Micronesia 5 countries	43	45	16
Southeast Asia 11 countries	37	38	40
Caribbean 13 countries	36	46	25
Melanesia 4 countries	35	39	34
Central Africa 9 countries	33	39	22
Southern and Central Asia 14 countries	30	33	26
Polynesia 3 countries	27	27	Not enough data
Middle East 18 countries	23	27	20
Eastern Africa 17 countries	22	24	22
Western Africa 16 countries	20	24	17
Northern Africa 7 countries	13	8	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. Guyana	18	53	+35
2. Cape Verde	49	80	+32
3. United Arab Emirates	0	25	+25
4. Saudi Arabia	3	25	+22
5. China	45	66	+21
6. Algeria	3	22	+19
7. Barbados	53	71	+18
8. Iraq	4	22	+18
9. Sri Lanka	20	37	+17
10. Yemen	0	17	+17

Legal Progress Ahead of Public Opinion

Country	Legal Index	Public Opinion Index	Difference
1. Antigua and Barbuda	77	17	-61
2. Greece	93	39	-54
3. Moldova	61	8	-53
4. Malta	100	53	-47
5. Croatia	80	34	-47
6. Bolivia	80	33	-47
7. Kazakhstan	57	12	-45
8. Ecuador	84	41	-43
9. Cyprus	79	36	-43
10. Colombia	94	52	-42

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

* 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	×0.00
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.
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.