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
48
Europe 50 countries
58
71
46
North America 23 countries
45
57
34
Oceania 14 countries
44
48
44
Asia 44 countries
32
35
31
Africa 53 countries
25
28
20

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
81
87
75
North America 2 countries
77
91
63
Australia and New Zealand 2 countries
76
88
64
British Islands 2 countries
72
83
62
Western Europe 9 countries
71
81
61
South America 12 countries
61
73
48
Southern Europe 16 countries
60
74
46
Central America 8 countries
51
60
41
Eastern Asia 6 countries
50
59
43
Baltic Countries 3 countries
50
66
35
Micronesia 5 countries
45
48
16
Southern Africa 5 countries
44
53
36
Eastern Europe 10 countries
43
54
32
Melanesia 4 countries
38
41
34
Southeast Asia 11 countries
37
38
39
Caribbean 13 countries
37
49
25
Central Africa 9 countries
32
38
23
Southern and Central Asia 14 countries
31
35
26
Polynesia 3 countries
30
30
Not enough data
Middle East 18 countries
26
31
21
Eastern Africa 17 countries
23
26
19
Western Africa 15 countries
22
26
15
Northern Africa 7 countries
14
9
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 27 55 +29
2. Cape Verde 51 77 +26
3. Uganda 3 25 +22
4. United Arab Emirates 5 25 +20
5. Algeria 3 22 +19
6. Iraq 4 22 +18
7. Saudi Arabia 7 25 +18
8. Yemen 0 17 +17
9. Mauritania 0 16 +16
10. Malaysia 8 24 +16

Legal Progress Ahead of Public Opinion

Country Legal Index Public Opinion Index Difference
1. Greece 93 39 -55
2. Moldova 63 8 -54
3. Antigua and Barbuda 70 17 -54
4. Georgia 64 12 -52
5. Bolivia 84 33 -50
6. Malta 100 51 -49
7. Croatia 81 33 -48
8. Kazakhstan 59 12 -47
9. Burkina Faso 52 7 -45
10. Cyprus 80 35 -45
New for developers: The Equality Index is now available via Equaldex's API.

World Equality Index

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

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
2024 (current year) 0.750 1
2023 0.750 1
2022 0.751 0.75
2021 0.752 0.5625
2020 0.753 0.421875
2019 0.754 0.31640625
2018 0.755 0.2373046875
2017 0.756 0.177978515625
2016 0.757 0.13348388671875
2015 0.758 0.10011291503906
2014 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.