MapSur Research

The Safest Countries for LGBT+ Travelers in 2026

142 countries ranked by combining legal rights and public opinion with general safety data. Iceland leads the ranking. Malta places 4th, ahead of Canada and Germany. France ranks 21st.

Published July 21, 2026. Data extracted July 21, 2026. By the MapSur research team.

142

countries ranked

86.4/100

Iceland, first place

4th

Malta, best legal framework

21st

France, held back by public opinion

Four findings

Malta places 4th, ahead of Germany and Canada

In our index, Malta combines the most complete legal framework of the ranking (100/100 on the legal component) with solid general safety. Public opinion (61/100) is the only component holding it back, a reminder that laws and attitudes move at different speeds.

Uruguay is the only Latin American country in the top 20

Uruguay scores a perfect 100/100 on legal rights, yet ranks 17th: its general safety score (53/100) pulls it down from a potential top 5. This gap is exactly what the index is designed to surface: legal rights alone do not describe what travelers experience.

France ranks 21st in our index

France posts a strong legal component (90/100) but public opinion, as measured by the surveys compiled by Equaldex, stands at 58/100, behind Czechia and Uruguay. In our ranking, that opinion gap keeps France just outside the top 20.

Greece shows the widest gap between law and opinion

Greece scores 92/100 on legal rights but 40/100 on public opinion, the widest gap in the ranking. The law can move faster than attitudes; for travelers, that gap is a point of vigilance.

The top 20

#	Country	MapSur score	Legal	Opinion	General safety
1	Iceland	86.4	96	90	77
2	Norway	83.0	88	87	77
3	Denmark	79.5	94	69	76
4	Malta	79.2	100	61	78
5	Spain	78.3	100	67	71
6	Andorra	77.8	86	74	75
7	Australia	77.3	95	61	76
8	New Zealand	77.1	88	65	77
9	Germany	77.0	100	60	73
10	Portugal	76.3	94	60	75
11	Netherlands	75.6	87	64	75
12	Canada	75.1	96	61	69
13	Finland	75.0	86	66	73
14	Czechia	74.2	80	64	77
15	Sweden	74.2	85	65	73
16	Switzerland	73.9	76	64	80
17	Uruguay	73.3	100	74	53
18	Ireland	73.0	80	59	78
19	Austria	72.3	82	60	74
20	Belgium	72.3	88	61	70

Elsewhere in the ranking: Italy 24th (69.7), United Kingdom 26th (69.0), Greece 29th (67.5), United States 41st (61.2).

See the full ranking (142 countries)

#	Country	MapSur score	Legal	Opinion	General safety
1	Iceland	86.4	96	90	77
2	Norway	83.0	88	87	77
3	Denmark	79.5	94	69	76
4	Malta	79.2	100	61	78
5	Spain	78.3	100	67	71
6	Andorra	77.8	86	74	75
7	Australia	77.3	95	61	76
8	New Zealand	77.1	88	65	77
9	Germany	77.0	100	60	73
10	Portugal	76.3	94	60	75
11	Netherlands	75.6	87	64	75
12	Canada	75.1	96	61	69
13	Finland	75.0	86	66	73
14	Czechia	74.2	80	64	77
15	Sweden	74.2	85	65	73
16	Switzerland	73.9	76	64	80
17	Uruguay	73.3	100	74	53
18	Ireland	73.0	80	59	78
19	Austria	72.3	82	60	74
20	Belgium	72.3	88	61	70
21	France	71.5	90	58	68
22	Cuba	70.3	92	66	57
23	Slovenia	70.0	81	48	78
24	Italy	69.7	73	59	75
25	Luxembourg	69.7	82	52	74
26	United Kingdom	69.0	82	55	71
27	Liechtenstein	68.6	69	68	68
28	Chile	68.4	100	60	51
29	Greece	67.5	92	40	70
30	Argentina	65.2	87	61	52
31	Nepal	64.7	71	68	58
32	Japan	64.6	57	50	82
33	Croatia	64.0	80	33	75
34	Cape Verde	63.8	55	80	58
35	Cyprus	63.4	79	36	72
36	Estonia	62.7	73	44	70
37	Singapore	61.8	39	49	88
38	Thailand	61.8	63	67	57
39	United States	61.2	80	56	51
40	Costa Rica	60.4	85	54	48
41	Fiji	60.3	55	n/a	68
42	Montenegro	60.3	75	35	68
43	Micronesia	59.8	48	n/a	78
44	Poland	59.8	58	43	73
45	Hungary	59.6	57	40	75
46	Bhutan	59.4	56	50	69
47	Seychelles	58.5	55	66	55
48	Brazil	58.1	93	56	33
49	South Korea	58.1	53	39	76
50	Slovakia	57.9	65	33	71
51	Mauritius	57.7	50	52	68
52	Bolivia	57.3	87	38	50
53	China	57.1	39	66	65
54	Barbados	56.9	38	71	60
55	Israel	56.4	73	51	48
56	Romania	55.9	60	33	69
57	Vanuatu	55.7	45	34	81
58	Botswana	55.0	60	51	53
59	Serbia	55.0	65	33	64
60	North Macedonia	54.8	64	33	65
61	Lithuania	54.6	66	28	66
62	Albania	54.5	67	28	66
63	Bosnia & Herzegovina	54.5	63	38	61
64	India	53.6	56	53	52
65	Latvia	53.6	58	35	65
66	Colombia	53.2	92	50	26
67	Mexico	52.9	84	57	27
68	Bulgaria	52.8	57	27	69
69	Kosovo	52.1	66	30	58
70	Philippines	51.6	49	59	48
71	Bahrain	49.8	32	42	69
72	Peru	48.8	64	44	41
73	South Africa	48.2	77	57	20
74	Ecuador	48.1	89	42	23
75	Mongolia	46.5	62	17	56
76	Suriname	46.0	59	23	54
77	Belize	45.2	56	44	38
78	Ukraine	45.1	58	39	41
79	Namibia	44.1	49	33	49
80	Tajikistan	44.1	32	n/a	62
81	Antigua & Barbuda	44.0	60	17	53
82	Nicaragua	43.7	50	40	42
83	El Salvador	43.5	48	35	47
84	Rwanda	43.1	37	32	57
85	Venezuela	43.1	48	56	30
86	Moldova	42.4	64	8	52
87	Samoa	42.3	30	n/a	61
88	Panama	41.3	43	34	45
89	Dominican Republic	41.2	44	33	46
90	Georgia	41.0	47	13	58
91	Paraguay	40.3	38	31	50
92	Palau	40.2	47	16	54
93	Indonesia	39.6	31	11	68
94	Malaysia	38.7	8	27	70
95	Qatar	38.4	6	9	84
96	Honduras	38.1	58	33	26
97	Türkiye	37.8	32	33	47
98	Dominica	37.4	49	14	45
99	Sri Lanka	37.3	22	34	51
100	Belarus	37.1	38	16	52
101	Tonga	37.0	10	n/a	77
102	Uzbekistan	36.9	21	18	62
103	Guyana	36.7	22	53	36
104	United Arab Emirates	36.6	0	23	75
105	Kyrgyzstan	36.1	34	10	57
106	Jordan	35.9	27	6	64
107	Armenia	35.8	45	5	52
108	Kazakhstan	35.7	33	11	56
109	St. Lucia	35.7	51	17	38
110	Ghana	35.4	18	18	62
111	Bangladesh	35.2	16	33	51
112	Azerbaijan	34.4	39	5	53
113	Bahamas	34.2	44	16	41
114	Kuwait	34.1	5	6	76
115	Guatemala	33.8	38	31	32
116	Grenada	33.6	27	17	51
117	Oman	33.5	3	n/a	79
118	Maldives	33.3	5	8	74
119	Saudi Arabia	33.0	3	22	64
120	St. Kitts & Nevis	32.9	50	15	34
121	Russia	32.4	35	23	38
122	Pakistan	32.3	31	31	34
123	Algeria	31.6	7	19	59
124	Palestinian Territories	31.5	29	8	50
125	Eswatini	31.5	26	27	38
126	Morocco	31.3	12	15	59
127	Sierra Leone	30.9	20	6	58
128	Mauritania	30.5	4	16	61
129	Tanzania	30.3	13	14	55
130	Myanmar (Burma)	30.0	13	38	38
131	Kenya	29.8	24	19	43
132	Trinidad & Tobago	28.3	25	27	32
133	Lebanon	27.5	18	15	45
134	Tunisia	27.0	13	15	47
135	Jamaica	24.2	24	18	29
136	St. Vincent & Grenadines	23.7	24	8	35
137	Zimbabwe	23.0	14	10	40
138	Haiti	22.0	45	11	13
139	Uganda	20.9	1	18	39
140	Cameroon	18.2	4	11	35
141	Nigeria	15.2	7	15	21
142	Afghanistan	12.4	0	2	30

Methodology

The MapSur score combines two published components, with a constant weighting across all editions of the index:

Score = 60% Equaldex Equality Index (legal rights and public opinion, 0 to 100) + 40% general safety (0 to 100).

General safety: computed by MapSur from The World Bank: Worldwide Governance Indicators (political stability) and intentional homicide statistics, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Data normalized, aggregated and rescaled to 0-100 by MapSur, using the same method as the composite score shown in the MapSur app. The Worldwide Governance Indicators do not reflect the official views of the World Bank.

Scope: the 142 countries for which both the Equaldex Equality Index and the two World Bank safety indicators are available. Countries with incomplete World Bank data, such as Taiwan and San Marino, are outside the main ranking.

Sources and licenses

Equaldex Equality Index

Equality Index values remain the property of Equaldex and are reproduced with permission. Their reuse is subject to Equaldex's terms (equaldex.com/equality-index-api).

The World Bank: Worldwide Governance Indicators and intentional homicide statistics

CC BY 4.0. Modified by MapSur: normalized, aggregated and rescaled to 0-100.

Processing and weighting

MapSur (Merta), July 2026. The full computation is reproducible from the published formula.

What this study does not measure

The 60/40 weighting is an editorial choice by MapSur. It is published and kept constant across editions; every weighting is a choice, ours is documented.
The public opinion component relies on surveys whose freshness varies by country.
A country score is a national average. A well ranked country can include hostile areas or situations; a lower ranked country can offer positive experiences.
A ranking does not replace individual experience. That is what traveler reviews by profile are for on MapSur.

This ranking is a statistical synthesis of national data published by third parties, as of July 21, 2026. It is neither travel advice nor a guarantee of individual safety. Check your government's official travel advisories before any departure. The legal and social situation of a country can change at any time.

Download the data

License: MapSur scores, rankings and the general safety component derived from World Bank data are released under CC BY 4.0. Requested attribution: MapSur Inclusive Travel Index 2026, linking to mapsur.com/research/safest-countries-lgbt-2026. This dataset contains World Bank data (CC BY 4.0). Equaldex Equality Index values are not included in this file; their reuse is subject to Equaldex's terms.

Download the CSV (142 countries)

About this study

This study was produced and published by MapSur, a service of Merta. MapSur is a travel platform where reviews are filtered by traveler profile: LGBT+ travelers, solo women, Black travelers, Muslim travelers and more. Press and data requests: contact page.

Country data is a starting point, not the full picture

Behind every score there are individual experiences. Read what LGBT+ travelers report, city by city, in MapSur reviews.

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