Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

Where is gay marriage legal?

Joe Myers
Writer, Forum Agenda

Around the world 23 nations allow gay marriage – either nationally or in the case of Mexico, in some jurisdictions. In the UK, gay marriage is devolved to national parliaments, so is only legal in England, Wales and Scotland.

The following map shows the countries around the world that allow same-sex couples to marry, with data taken from the Pew Research Center.

1511B30-gay marriage legal world map

As the map highlights, countries where same-sex marriage is legal are found predominantly in the Americas and Europe, with South Africa and New Zealand being the only exceptions.

The first nation to legalise gay marriage was the Netherlands in 2000. Gay marriage will become legal in Finland from 2017 through a bill passed this year.

To keep up with the Agenda subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

Author: Joe Myers is a Digital Content Producer at Formative Content.

Image: Participants hold a giant rainbow flag during the Brussels LGBT Pride Parade May 17, 2014. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir 

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

Sign up for free

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Stay up to date:

Gender Inequality

Share:
The Big Picture
Explore and monitor how Gender Inequality is affecting economies, industries and global issues
A hand holding a looking glass by a lake
Crowdsource Innovation
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
World Economic Forum logo
Global Agenda

The Agenda Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

Subscribe today

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.

Humanitarian crises are growing. So how do we make crisis response more efficient?

Guiseppe Saba

November 7, 2024

What is menopause – and how does it impact women’s health and work life?

About us

Engage with us

  • Sign in
  • Partner with us
  • Become a member
  • Sign up for our press releases
  • Subscribe to our newsletters
  • Contact us

Quick links

Language editions

Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

Sitemap

© 2024 World Economic Forum