Which country has the highest Global Acceptance Index?

Iceland has the highest Global Acceptance Index in 2021, at 9.78, followed by Netherlands (9.46) and Norway (9.38).

Which country has the lowest Global Acceptance Index?

Azerbaijan has the lowest Global Acceptance Index in 2021, at 1.42.

What is the median Global Acceptance Index across countries?

The median is 4.1 across the 172 countries with data in 2021.

Where does this lgbt rights by country data come from?

Rankodex compiles it from World Population Review and the primary sources it cites: LGBTQ+ rights across the world - EqualDex; The Global Divide on Homosexuality Persists - Pew Research Center; The Love That Dare Not Speak Its Name - Human Rights Watch; Social Acceptance of LGBTI People in 175 Countries and Locations - UCLA Williams Institute.

Country rankings

LGBT Rights by Country

Name: LGBT Rights by Country
Creator: Rankodex

Iceland has the highest Global Acceptance Index in 2021 (9.78), followed by Netherlands (9.46) and Norway (9.38). Azerbaijan has the lowest (1.42).

Culture Law233 countries · 11 metricsUpdated May 1, 2025Original page

14 sources

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Year 2021172 of 235 countries

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Global Acceptance Index, 2021

Darker means higher. Click a place to highlight it.

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Ranking

Highest first: the first 15 and last 5 of 172 countries.

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

4.1

Middle half 3.15 – 5.7

Average

4.58

172 countries

Highest

9.78

Iceland

Lowest

1.42

Azerbaijan

Data

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

207 countries · # = rank by Global Acceptance Index

#
1	Iceland	9.78	93	96	90	330
2	Netherlands	9.46	76	87	64	374
3	Norway	9.38	88	90	87	343
4	Sweden	9.18	75	85	65	378
5	Canada	9.02	78	96	61	383
6	Spain	8.77	83	100	67	341
7	Denmark	8.69	82	94	69	307
8	Ireland	8.41	70	80	59	294
9	United Kingdom	8.34	68	81	55	347
10	New Zealand	8.23	81	96	65	323
11	Australia	8.03	78	95	61	307
12	Malta	8.01	80	100	61	369
13	Switzerland	8	70	76	64	325
14	Finland	7.96	76	86	66	299
15	Belgium	7.95	78	94	61	343
16	Uruguay	7.9	87	100	74	306
17	Nepal	7.84	69	71	68	181
18	Luxembourg	7.82	67	82	52	269
19	Germany	7.73	80	100	60	259
19	France	7.73	74	90	58	338
21	Puerto Rico	7.52	—	—	—	210
22	Andorra	7.48	80	86	74	175
23	United States	7.42	68	80	56	267
24	Brazil	7.22	75	93	56	223
25	Austria	7.2	73	87	60	305
26	Argentina	7.07	74	87	61	260
27	Italy	6.94	66	73	59	168
28	Portugal	6.87	77	94	60	358
29	Chile	6.83	80	100	60	312
30	Cape Verde	6.78	68	55	80	125
31	Mexico	6.5	71	85	57	173
32	Hong Kong	6.38	—	—	—	99
33	Costa Rica	6.35	69	85	54	197
34	Slovenia	6.21	65	81	48	242
35	Colombia	6.1	71	92	50	241
36	Philippines	6.06	54	49	59	47
37	South Africa	6.01	67	77	57	292
38	Czechia	5.87	72	80	64	185
39	Singapore	5.86	44	39	49	18
40	Thailand	5.81	65	63	67	131
41	Cuba	5.8	77	87	66	176
42	Taiwan	5.74	59	68	51	188
43	Bahrain	5.73	37	32	42	-15
44	Israel	5.69	62	73	51	220
45	Nicaragua	5.57	45	50	40	122
46	Venezuela	5.51	52	48	56	34
47	Ecuador	5.47	65	89	42	228
48	Greece	5.44	66	92	40	189
49	Mauritius	5.34	51	51	52	15
50	India	5.28	51	48	53	77
50	Panama	5.28	39	43	34	53
52	Japan	5.26	53	57	50	83
53	Estonia	5.25	58	73	44	206
54	Bolivia	5.24	62	87	38	223
55	Syria	5.22	18	9	27	—
55	El Salvador	5.22	41	48	35	18
57	Cyprus	5.16	58	79	36	192
58	Poland	5.15	51	58	43	82
58	Peru	5.15	54	64	44	207
58	Honduras	5.15	46	58	33	15
61	Hungary	5.08	49	57	40	136
62	Croatia	5.05	57	80	33	254
63	Vietnam	4.99	51	50	53	54
64	Dominican Republic	4.98	38	44	33	1
65	Cambodia	4.96	46	41	51	94
66	Namibia	4.93	41	49	33	48
67	Mozambique	4.92	48	49	47	87
68	Laos	4.89	45	40	50	45
69	Slovakia	4.82	49	65	33	186
70	Paraguay	4.74	34	38	31	29
71	Guatemala	4.71	35	38	31	-6
72	Trinidad and Tobago	4.7	26	25	27	71
73	Suriname	4.64	41	59	23	171
74	South Korea	4.53	46	53	39	97
75	Barbados	4.43	55	38	71	-93
76	Latvia	4.42	46	58	35	109
77	Lithuania	4.38	47	66	28	145
78	Guyana	4.36	37	22	53	-175
79	Botswana	4.3	56	60	51	98
80	Algeria	4.28	13	7	19	-75
81	Bulgaria	4.19	42	57	27	128
82	Lesotho	4.18	44	55	32	80
82	Bhutan	4.18	53	56	50	16
84	Belize	4.14	50	56	44	-12
85	Myanmar	4.11	25	13	38	-118
86	Romania	4.1	47	60	33	137
87	Bahamas	4.09	30	44	16	50
88	Macau	4.01	—	—	—	40
89	Turkey	3.94	32	32	33	40
90	Benin	3.88	28	40	16	10
90	Grenada	3.88	23	30	17	33
92	Jamaica	3.83	21	24	18	-132
93	Iraq	3.81	13	3	22	-28
94	Saint Lucia	3.8	34	51	17	-75
95	Libya	3.78	13	8	19	-150
96	Serbia	3.71	50	67	33	172
96	Saint Kitts and Nevis	3.71	33	52	15	-52
98	China	3.69	56	45	66	31
98	Bangladesh	3.69	25	16	33	-9
100	Uzbekistan	3.68	20	21	18	-65
101	Pakistan	3.66	33	34	31	-93
101	Angola	3.66	42	49	35	213
103	Uganda	3.63	9	1	18	-92
103	Lebanon	3.63	16	17	15	-58
105	Kenya	3.62	21	24	19	-87
106	Kuwait	3.61	6	5	6	-180
107	Saudi Arabia	3.6	13	5	22	-177
108	Dominica	3.56	32	49	14	-57
109	Ivory Coast	3.55	22	30	14	-25
110	Qatar	3.54	8	6	9	-137
111	Montenegro	3.53	55	75	35	141
112	Antigua and Barbuda	3.52	38	60	17	-67
113	Malaysia	3.48	18	8	27	-165
114	Comoros	3.47	18	17	19	-56
115	Yemen	3.41	10	4	17	-128
116	Morocco	3.39	13	10	15	-89
117	Tunisia	3.38	14	13	15	-91
117	Belarus	3.38	27	38	16	53
119	Madagascar	3.36	29	36	22	26
120	DR Congo	3.32	21	34	8	-27
120	Afghanistan	3.32	1	—	2	-147
120	Haiti	3.32	31	51	11	88
123	Burundi	3.3	10	9	10	-45
124	Russia	3.28	29	35	23	-2
125	Tanzania	3.27	14	13	14	-120
125	Republic of the Congo	3.27	28	38	17	16
127	Sri Lanka	3.23	28	22	34	-91
128	Palestine	3.2	18	28	8	-106
129	Togo	3.15	9	6	12	-45
129	Sao Tome and Principe	3.15	46	48	44	—
131	North Macedonia	3.13	49	65	33	113
132	Guinea	3.06	14	15	14	-80
133	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	3.04	17	26	8	-70
134	Eswatini	3.02	27	26	27	-46
135	Sudan	2.99	14	9	19	-109
136	Niger	2.97	9	6	12	14
136	Sierra Leone	2.97	13	20	6	-63
138	Burkina Faso	2.96	8	6	10	23
139	Georgia	2.94	30	47	13	122
140	Ukraine	2.91	48	58	39	80
141	Djibouti	2.89	35	35	—	15
142	Bosnia and Herzegovina	2.87	50	63	38	123
143	Gabon	2.8	23	33	13	20
144	Indonesia	2.79	12	13	11	3
144	Cameroon	2.79	9	6	11	-54
146	Rwanda	2.77	34	37	32	-29
147	Mali	2.74	8	6	9	12
148	South Sudan	2.73	7	7	—	-126
149	Chad	2.72	17	20	14	-58
150	Mongolia	2.71	40	62	17	117
151	Kazakhstan	2.69	22	33	11	3
152	Ghana	2.68	15	12	18	-49
153	Liberia	2.65	16	24	9	-39
153	Albania	2.65	47	67	28	141
155	Central African Republic	2.62	28	28	—	-52
156	Egypt	2.48	10	5	15	-96
157	Gambia	2.44	3	2	4	-139
158	Nigeria	2.18	11	7	15	-190
159	Armenia	2.17	25	45	5	64
160	Kyrgyzstan	2.16	22	34	10	32
161	Iran	2.11	5	7	3	-104
162	Zambia	2.04	8	8	8	-104
163	Moldova	1.91	36	64	8	110
164	Jordan	1.87	17	27	6	-30
165	Senegal	1.85	4	5	3	-67
166	Mauritania	1.77	10	4	16	-96
167	Malawi	1.75	8	12	5	-163
168	Ethiopia	1.63	12	10	13	-93
169	Somalia	1.59	—	—	—	-150
170	Zimbabwe	1.57	12	14	10	-52
171	Tajikistan	1.56	38	38	—	25
172	Azerbaijan	1.42	20	35	5	—
—	North Korea	—	37	37	—	—
—	United Arab Emirates	—	11	—	23	-134
—	Papua New Guinea	—	26	26	—	-80
—	Turkmenistan	—	18	18	—	-65
—	Oman	—	3	3	—	-145
—	Eritrea	—	7	7	—	-75
—	Guinea-Bissau	—	32	40	24	—
—	Equatorial Guinea	—	38	38	—	40
—	Timor-Leste	—	54	49	60	10
—	Fiji	—	55	55	—	86
—	Solomon Islands	—	23	23	—	-85
—	Maldives	—	6	5	8	-100
—	Brunei	—	3	3	—	-200
—	Vanuatu	—	39	45	34	—
—	Samoa	—	31	31	—	48
—	Curacao	—	—	—	—	50
—	Guam	—	—	—	—	289
—	Kiribati	—	28	28	—	-70
—	Seychelles	—	61	55	66	75
—	Micronesia	—	48	48	—	100
—	Aruba	—	—	—	—	138
—	Tonga	—	11	11	—	-155
—	United States Virgin Islands	—	—	—	—	264
—	Cayman Islands	—	—	—	—	59
—	Turks and Caicos Islands	—	—	—	—	50
—	Sint Maarten	—	—	—	—	75
—	Northern Mariana Islands	—	—	—	—	85
—	Liechtenstein	—	69	69	68	217
—	Monaco	—	53	56	51	61
—	Marshall Islands	—	49	49	—	110
—	San Marino	—	67	63	71	238
—	Palau	—	32	48	16	—
—	Nauru	—	43	43	—	—
—	Tuvalu	—	24	24	—	-75
—	Vatican City	—	31	31	—	—

What correlates with Global Acceptance Index (2021)?

Pearson r against 1,448 other country metrics sharing at least 104 countries, 1 near-identical series hidden. 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 Global Acceptance Index tend to score higher on these (or rank better)

Spartacus GTI Total ScoreMost Homophobic Countries
r = +0.83 · very strong · n = 171
Plot
LGBTQI+ Travel Safety IndexMost Homophobic Countries
r = +0.82 · very strong · n = 169
Plot
Homophobic Climate Index Rank (UN)Most Homophobic CountriesA rank: rank 1 is the worst
r = +0.81 · very strong · n = 151
Plot
Mean IncomeMedian Income by Country
r = +0.78 · very strong · n = 150
Plot
Median IncomeMedian Income by Country
r = +0.77 · very strong · n = 147
Plot
Inclusive SocietySocial Progress Index by Country
r = +0.77 · very strong · n = 156
Plot

Opposite directions

Places that have a higher Global Acceptance Index tend to score lower on these (or rank worse)

Marketing Experts 2023Tier 1 Countries
r = −0.74 · very strong · n = 138
Plot
Lunio 2020Tier 1 Countries
r = −0.74 · very strong · n = 139
Plot
CyberCash 2019Tier 1 Countries
r = −0.73 · very strong · n = 172
Plot
Failed States IndexFailed States
r = −0.73 · very strong · n = 162
Plot
Fragile States Index
r = −0.72 · very strong · n = 163
Plot
External InterventionFailed States
r = −0.70 · very strong · n = 162
Plot

Quick answers

Which country has the highest Global Acceptance Index?: Iceland has the highest Global Acceptance Index in 2021, at 9.78, followed by Netherlands (9.46) and Norway (9.38).
Which country has the lowest Global Acceptance Index?: Azerbaijan has the lowest Global Acceptance Index in 2021, at 1.42.
What is the median Global Acceptance Index across countries?: The median is 4.1 across the 172 countries with data in 2021.
Where does this lgbt rights by country data come from?: Rankodex compiles it from World Population Review and the primary sources it cites: LGBTQ+ rights across the world - EqualDex; The Global Divide on Homosexuality Persists - Pew Research Center; The Love That Dare Not Speak Its Name - Human Rights Watch; Social Acceptance of LGBTI People in 175 Countries and Locations - UCLA Williams Institute.

Higher together

Opposite directions

Quick answers

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