What is the most gay country in the world

The Global Divide on Homosexuality

Overview

For updated views on this question from 2019, view here.

As the United States and other countries grapple with the issue of same-sex marriage, a recent Pew Research Center survey finds huge variance by region on the broader question of whether homosexuality should be accepted or rejected by society.

The survey of publics in 39 countries finds broad acceptance of homosexuality in North America, the European Union, and much of Latin America, but equally widespread rejection in predominantly Muslim nations and in Africa, as well as in parts of Asia and in Russia. Opinion about the acceptability of homosexuality is divided in Israel, Poland and Bolivia.

Attitudes about homosexuality have been fairly stable in recent years, except in South Korea, the United States and Canada, where the percentage saying homosexuality should be accepted by society has grown by at least ten percentage points since 2007. These are among the key findings of a new survey by the Pew Research Center conducted in 39 countries among 37,653 respondents from March 2 to May 1, 2013.

The survey also finds that acceptance of homosexuality is particularly widespread

Which Country Has the Largest LGBTQI+ Population? 2025

The worldwide LGBTQI+ population by country reports estimate that approximately eight percent of the world identifies as homosexual, double attraction, or pansexual. Approximately 80 percent of the world identifies as heterosexual, and the remaining 12 percent of the world do not report how they identify. This facts is as recent as 2021.

It is estimated that the younger generations are more likely to be open about their sexuality, with Generation Z existence the most likely to be openly gay, bisexual, or asexual or pansexual. Millennials are the next most likely to be openly gay, and Neonate Boomers are the least likely to report or distinguish as openly homosexual. Millennials and Generation Z are the age groups that fall between the ages of 27 and 42 in the year 2025.

Australia’s LGBTQI+ Population By the Numbers

Australia is considered to own some of the most liberal views on the earth, but as such, it will not report its sexuality-related statistics as frequently as other countries. In 2011, one report indicated that approximately 96.5 percent of the population was heterosexual while the remainder of the population reported identifying as

Almost Half of the Earth Sees Their Area as Gay-Friendly

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Nearly half of people worldwide (45%) viewed their capital or area as a “good place” for homosexual or lesbian people to live in 2023. Nearly as many, 44%, said it is “not a good place.”

Acceptance is down from levels between 2020 and 2022, when it hovered around 50%, but it is still more than double the 21% first measured in 2006.

Nordic countries, including Norway (92%), Iceland (90%), Sweden (89%) and Denmark (86%), endure to rank among the most accepting places in the world. Other European countries -- including Spain (89%), the Netherlands (88%) and Malta (87%) -- also top the list, as does Australia (85%).

Nepal (87%), which became the first country in South Asia to recognize queer marriage in 2023, remains the only non-Western territory among the most accepting nations.

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Perceptions of acceptance endure lowest in African and Middle Eastern countries, including several where consensual queer sexual acts are illegal, such as Senegal (1%), Gambia (3%), Malawi (4%), Zambia (5%), and Lebanon (5%).

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Mozambique Now One of the Most Gay-Friendly

Rainbow Map
2025 rainbow map
These are the main findings for the 2025 edition of the rainbow map
The Rainbow Map ranks 49 European countries on their respective legal and policy practices for LGBTI people, from 0-100%.
The UK has dropped six places in ILGA-Europe’s Rainbow Chart, as Hungary and Georgia also register steep falls obeying anti-LGBTI legislation. The data highlights how rollbacks on LGBTI human rights are part of a broader erosion of democratic protections across Europe. Read more in our pressurize release.
“Moves in the UK, Hungary, Georgia and beyond signal not just isolated regressions, but a coordinated global backlash aimed at erasing LGBTI rights, cynically framed as the defence of tradition or public stability, but in truths designed to entrench discrimination and suppress dissent.”
Katrin Hugendubel, Activism Director, ILGA-Europe

Malta has sat on superior of the ranking for the last 10 years.
With 85 points, Belgium jumped to second place after adopting policies tackling hatred based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics.
Iceland now comes third place on the ranking with a score of 84.
The three

LGBT Equality Index
Equality Index Methodology
Equaldex's Equality Index is a rating from 0 to 100 (with 100 existence the most equal) to help visualize the legal rights and public attitudes towards LGBTQ+ (lesbian, lgbtq+, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex...) people in each region. The Equality Index is an average of two indexes: the legal index and the general 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 contain a much bigger impact on the score than not allowing LGBT people to serve in the military). Each topic is assigned a "total doable score" and a "score" is assigned based the status of the rule using a rating scale that ranges from 0% to 100% (for example, if homosexuality is legal, it would would obtain a score of 100, but if it's illegal, it would receve a score of 0.)