Country rankings

Age of Consent by Country

Japan has the highest Restriction by Authority Age (16), followed by Philippines (16) and United Kingdom (16). Trinidad and Tobago has the lowest (12).

Law205 countries · 6 metricsUpdated Jun 19, 2025Original page
3 sources
Restriction by Authority AgeBetter directionWhether a higher or a lower value is better. A green arrow means higher is better, a red arrow means lower is better, and no arrow means neither.More in the glossary →
52 of 235 countries
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Restriction by Authority Age

Darker means higher. Click a place to highlight it.

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All 52 ranked

Highest first.

Distribution Median and middle halfThe median is the middle value: half of places are above it, half below. The middle half is the range holding the central 50% of places.More in the glossary →

Each dot is one country; the lines mark the median and the middle half.

Median
15
Middle half 14 – 16
Average
14.9
52 countries
Highest
16
Japan
Lowest
12
Trinidad and Tobago

Data

Click a column to sort, a row to highlight that place on the charts.

205 countries · # = rank by Restriction by Authority Age
#
—United StatesNoVariesVariesVariesVariesAge of consent set at the state level., Base age of consent: 16-21+2
—MexicoNoVariesNoVariesVariesAge of consent set at the state level., Base age of consent: 16-18+1
1JapanNo18No1316—
1PhilippinesNo18No—16—
1United KingdomNo16No1616R&J clause - legal if the age difference between the parties is less than 2 years.
1SpainNo18No—16—
1CanadaNo18Yes1216—
1MalaysiaNo18No—16Applies to heterosexual acts only, as homosexual acts are illegal.
1CameroonNo21No—16Applies to heterosexual acts only, as homosexual acts are illegal.
1NicaraguaNo18No—16—
19ThailandNo18No1415—
19FranceNo18No—15—
19PolandNo18No—15—
19Ivory CoastNo18No—15—
33GermanyNo18No—14—
33ItalyNo16Yes1314R&J clause - Legal if both parties are 13 years old or older and within 3 years of one another.
33AngolaNo16No—14—
33PeruNo18No—14—
51ArgentinaNo18No—13—
—AustraliaNoVariesYesVariesVariesAge of consent set at the state level., Base age of consent: 16-18+2
1RomaniaNo18Yes1416R&J clause - Legal if both parties are 13 years old or older and within 4 years of one another.
1NetherlandsNo18Yes—16One exception is when the partners are married.
1BelgiumNo18No1416Minimum age is 14 with a maximum difference in age of 2 years.
19SwedenNo18Yes1415R&J clause - Legal if partners are close in age, except in cases deemed to be in the public interest.
19GreeceNo18Yes—15R&J clause - Legal if one person is 15 years old and the age difference is no more than 3 years.
33ChileNo18No—14—
—HondurasNo18No—14-17—
1SingaporeNo18No—16—
1FinlandNo18No—16—
1LithuaniaNo18No—16—
1North MacedoniaNo18No—16—
1BahrainNo21No—16—
1EstoniaNo18No—16—
1Northern Mariana IslandsNo18No1316—
19CzechiaNo18No—15—
19El SalvadorNo18No—15—
19DenmarkNo18No—15—
19Costa RicaNo18No—15—
19UruguayNo18No1215—
19IcelandNo18No1415—
19VanuatuNo18No—15—
19TuvaluNo18——15—
33PortugalNo18No—14—
33IsraelNo16Yes1414—
33HungaryNo18Yes1214—
33AustriaNo18Yes1314—
33SerbiaNo18No—14—
33PanamaNo18Yes—14—
33Bosnia and HerzegovinaNo18No—14—
33AlbaniaNo18No—14—
33MontenegroNo18Yes—14R&J clause - legal if one person is under the age of 14 and there is not significant difference between their mental and physical development.
33Sao Tome and PrincipeNo16No—14—
33AndorraNo18No—14—
33LiechtensteinNo18No1214—
33San MarinoNo18No—14—
52Trinidad and TobagoNo18Yes—12—
—IndiaNo18No———
—ChinaNo14No———
—IndonesiaNo18No———
—PakistanYes18No——Applies to heterosexual acts only, as homosexual acts are illegal.
—NigeriaNo18No——Applies to heterosexual acts only, as homosexual acts are illegal.
—BrazilNo14No———
—BangladeshNo14No——Applies to heterosexual acts only, as homosexual acts are illegal.
—RussiaNo16No———
—EthiopiaNo18No——Applies to heterosexual acts only, as homosexual acts are illegal.
—EgyptNo18No——Applies to heterosexual acts only, as homosexual acts are illegal.
—DR CongoNo18No———
—VietnamNo16No———
—IranYes18, 15No——18 for males, 15 for females; applied for heterosexual acts only.
—TurkeyNo18No———
—TanzaniaNo18No——Applies to heterosexual acts only, as homosexual acts are illegal.
—South AfricaNo16No12——
—KenyaNo18No———
—MyanmarNo16No———
—ColombiaNo14No———
—SudanYes13, 12No——13 for males and 12 for females; applies for heterosexual acts only.
—UgandaNo18No———
—South KoreaNo16No13——
—AlgeriaNo16No———
—IraqNo18No———
—AfghanistanYes18, 16No——Must be married. Capacity to marry shall be attained when males reach 18 years of age and females reach 16.
—YemenYes9No——Yemen has no legally established age of consent. Participants must be married, but Yemen also has no set minimum age for marriage. However, sexual activity is illegal until the onset of puberty, legally defined as age 9.
—UkraineNo16No———
—MoroccoYes18———Applies to heterosexual acts only, as homosexual acts are illegal.
—UzbekistanNo16No———
—MozambiqueNo18————
—GhanaNo16No———
—Saudi ArabiaYes18No——Applies to heterosexual acts only, as homosexual acts are illegal.
—MadagascarNo14, 21No——14 for males and 21 for females.
—NepalNo18No———
—NigerNo13, 21No——13 for heterosexual acts and 21 for homosexual acts.
—VenezuelaNo16No———
—North KoreaNo15No———
—SyriaNo15No———
—MaliNo15No———
—Burkina FasoNo18No15——
—Sri LankaNo16No———
—TaiwanNo16Yes———
—MalawiNo16No———
—ZambiaNo16No———
—ChadNo16No——Applies to heterosexual acts only, as homosexual acts are illegal.
—KazakhstanNo16No———
—SomaliaNo18No——Applies to heterosexual acts only, as homosexual acts are illegal.
—SenegalNo16No——Applies to heterosexual acts only, as homosexual acts are illegal.
—GuatemalaNo18No———
—EcuadorNo14No———
—CambodiaNo15No———
—ZimbabweNo16No——Applies to heterosexual acts only, as homosexual acts are illegal.
—GuineaNo15No———
—BeninNo16, 21No——16 for heterosexual acts and 21 for homosexual acts.
—RwandaNo18No———
—BurundiNo18No——Applies to heterosexual acts only, as homosexual acts are illegal.
—BoliviaNo18Yes14—R&J clause - Bolivian law provides for a close-in-age exemption of three years.
—South SudanNo18No———
—TunisiaNo18No——Applies to heterosexual acts only, as homosexual acts are illegal.
—HaitiNo15No———
—Dominican RepublicNo18No———
—JordanNo18No———
—United Arab EmiratesNo18No——Applies to heterosexual acts only, as homosexual acts are illegal.
—TajikistanNo16No———
—Papua New GuineaNo16, 17No14—16 for males, 17 for females; applies for heterosexual acts only.
—CubaNo16No———
—AzerbaijanNo16No———
—TogoNo15No———
—SwitzerlandNo16Yes———
—Sierra LeoneNo18No———
—BelarusNo16No———
—LaosNo15No———
—TurkmenistanNo16No———
—LibyaYes18, 16No——18 for males and 16 for females.
—KyrgyzstanNo16No———
—Hong KongNo16, 21No——16 for males and 21 for females in heterosexual acts; 16 for homosexual acts.
—ParaguayNo14, 16No——14 for heterosexual acts and 16 for homosexual acts.
—BulgariaNo14No———
—Republic of the CongoNo18No——Applies to heterosexual acts only, as homosexual acts are illegal.
—LebanonNo18No———
—LiberiaNo18No——Applies to heterosexual acts only, as homosexual acts are illegal.
—Central African RepublicNo18No———
—PalestineVaries18No——Data include both Gaza Strip and West Bank. Age of consent is 18 in both territories, but in Gaza Strip participants must be married.
—OmanYes18No——Applies to heterosexual acts only, as homosexual acts are illegal.
—NorwayNo16No———
—MauritaniaNo18No——Applies to heterosexual acts only, as homosexual acts are illegal.
—SlovakiaNo15No———
—IrelandNo17No———
—New ZealandNo16No———
—KuwaitYes17, 15No——17 for males, 15 for females.
—CroatiaNo15Yes12—R&J clause - legal if there is less than 3 years of age difference between partners.
—GeorgiaNo16No———
—EritreaNo18No———
—MongoliaNo16No———
—Puerto RicoNo16Yes———
—QatarYes18, 16No——18 for males, 16 for females; applies for heterosexual acts only.
—NamibiaNo16No———
—MoldovaNo16No———
—ArmeniaNo16No———
—GambiaNo16, 18No——16 for heterosexual acts and 18 for homosexual acts.
—JamaicaNo16No———
—GabonNo18, 21No15—18 for heterosexual acts and 21 for homosexual acts.
—BotswanaNo18No———
—LesothoNo18No———
—Guinea-BissauNo16No———
—SloveniaNo15No———
—Equatorial GuineaNo18No———
—LatviaNo16Yes16—R&J clause - If one person is under the age on 16, the other one must be under 18 years old.
—Timor-LesteNo14No———
—CyprusNo17No———
—EswatiniNo18No——Applies to heterosexual acts only, as homosexual acts are illegal.
—MauritiusNo16No———
—DjiboutiNo18No15—Applies to heterosexual acts only, as homosexual acts are illegal.
—FijiNo16No———
—ComorosNo15No——Applies to heterosexual acts only, as homosexual acts are illegal.
—Solomon IslandsNo15No———
—GuyanaNo16————
—BhutanNo18No———
—MacauNo14No———
—LuxembourgNo16No———
—SurinameNo16No———
—Western SaharaNo13No———
—MaltaNo16No———
—MaldivesYes18No——Applies to heterosexual acts only, as homosexual acts are illegal.
—Cape VerdeNo16No14——
—BruneiYes16No——Applies to heterosexual acts only, as homosexual acts are illegal.
—BelizeNo16No———
—BahamasNo16, 18No——16 for heterosexual acts and 18 for homosexual acts.
—BarbadosNo16No———
—SamoaNo16No———
—CuracaoNo15————
—Saint LuciaNo16No———
—GuamNo16No———
—KiribatiNo15, 18No——15 for males, 18 for females.
—SeychellesNo15No———
—GrenadaNo16No———
—ArubaNo15No———
—Antigua and BarbudaNo16Yes——R&J clause - Legal if participants are both older than 14, within 3 years of one another, and the older party was not "wholly or substantially to blame" for the interaction.
—United States Virgin IslandsNo18Yes13——
—DominicaNo16No——Applies to heterosexual acts only, as homosexual acts are illegal.
—BermudaNo16————
—Saint Kitts and NevisNo16No———
—American SamoaNo16No———
—MonacoNo15No———
—Marshall IslandsNo16No———
—PalauNo16No———
—NauruNo17No———
—NiueNo19No———
—Vatican CityNo18No———

What correlates with Restriction by Authority Age?

Pearson r against 1,643 other country metrics sharing at least 32 countries. Ranks are read by standing: a better rank counts as higher, whether rank 1 is the best place on a list or the worst. Correlation is not causation.

Higher together

Places that have a higher Restriction by Authority Age tend to score higher on these (or rank better)

  1. Bloomberg Global Health IndexHealthiest Countries
    r = +0.47 · moderate · n = 32
    Plot
  2. Health Care Index (Numbeo)Best Healthcare in the World
    r = +0.47 · moderate · n = 39
    Plot
  3. Health Care Exp Index (Numbeo)Best Healthcare in the World
    r = +0.46 · moderate · n = 39
    Plot
  4. Logistics CompetenceLogistics Performance Index by Country
    r = +0.44 · moderate · n = 44
    Plot
  5. Price of Domestic Beer in MarketsCountries with the Most Expensive Beer
    r = +0.41 · moderate · n = 39
    Plot
  6. Median Mobile DL SpeedInternet Speeds by Country
    r = +0.41 · moderate · n = 38
    Plot

Opposite directions

Places that have a higher Restriction by Authority Age tend to score lower on these (or rank worse)

  1. Homicide RateCrime Rate by Country
    r = −0.51 · strong · n = 36
    Plot
  2. % Overweight (Age < 5)Childhood Obesity Rates by Country
    r = −0.48 · moderate · n = 37
    Plot
  3. Where Next Climate RankBest Weather by CountryA rank: rank 1 is the best
    r = +0.48 · moderate · n = 40
    Plot
  4. Where Next Climate ScoreBest Weather by Country
    r = −0.46 · moderate · n = 40
    Plot
  5. Use per Area of CroplandPesticide Usage by Country
    r = −0.40 · moderate · n = 48
    Plot
  6. Misery IndexWorst Countries to Live in
    r = −0.40 · moderate · n = 47
    Plot

Quick answers

Which country has the highest Restriction by Authority Age?
Japan has the highest Restriction by Authority Age, at 16, followed by Philippines (16) and United Kingdom (16).
Which country has the lowest Restriction by Authority Age?
Trinidad and Tobago has the lowest Restriction by Authority Age, at 12.
What is the median Restriction by Authority Age across countries?
The median is 15 across the 52 countries with data.
Where does this age of consent by country data come from?
Rankodex compiles it from World Population Review and the primary sources it cites: Legal Ages of Consent by Country - Age of Consent; Ages of consent by country - Wiki; Countries - Sexual Rights Database.