LGBTQ+ mental health statistics worldwide

Updated October 2026

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and other sexuality and gender diverse people report poorer mental health than other people in national surveys around the world. The key figures below show the gap, from national statistics offices in Australia ¹ and Canada ² and a United States survey of LGBTQ+ young people ³. Being LGBTQ+ does not itself cause poorer mental health.

Many LGBTQ+ people live well and find strong support in their families, friends and communities. The figures below show where the gaps lie and how often people struggle to get affirming care. Affirming care means care from professionals who respect a person's identity. This page uses national surveys as well as online and community samples. Each figure says who was asked and how.

If you are struggling, our helplines and crisis lines worldwide include services in many countries.

Getting help

If something on this page reflects what you are going through, you do not have to manage it alone. Our guide to finding the right therapist explains how to choose someone qualified, and the TherapyRoute directory lists therapists in many countries.

If you are in crisis or thinking about suicide, our list of helplines and crisis lines worldwide gives free services by country. In an emergency, call your local emergency number.

Sexual orientation and mental health

National surveys that ask about sexual orientation find higher levels of anxiety, depression and distress among lesbian, gay and bisexual people, and often the highest among bisexual people. Two-Spirit is a term some Indigenous people in North America use for their gender or sexual identity. A cohort is a group of people followed over time. An adjusted figure allows for other differences between the groups compared, such as age. A meta-analysis, or pooled estimate, combines the results of many studies into one figure.

Transgender and gender diverse people

Transgender and gender diverse people report high levels of distress in many studies. Discrimination and lack of recognition play a large part. The first two figures, for Australian adults, come from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

• In Australia, 33.1% of transgender people aged sixteen to eighty-five had a mental disorder in the previous twelve months, in a national survey run in 2020-2022. (survey, past 12 months, 2020-2022 data) ¹
• In Australia, 21.3% of cisgender people aged sixteen to eighty-five had a mental disorder in the previous twelve months, in a national survey run in 2020-2022. (survey, past 12 months, 2020-2022 data) ¹
• In New Zealand in 2023, 45.6% of transgender and non-binary people aged fifteen and over had poor mental wellbeing over the previous two weeks on the WHO wellbeing index, age-adjusted. (survey, at one point in time, 2023 data) ⁵
• In New Zealand in 2023, 48.7% of transgender and non-binary people aged fifteen and over felt it would be easy to ask for support if they felt depressed or needed to talk (age-adjusted). (survey, at one point in time, 2023 data) ⁵
• A study at fourteen urban sites in eight sub-Saharan African countries recruited transgender women and cisgender men who have sex with men. The transgender women had had anal sex with a male partner in the past year. In surveys run from 2011 to 2016, 57% of these transgender women said, in answer to a single screening question, that they had felt sad or depressed in the past two weeks. (survey, at one point in time, 2011-2016 data) ¹⁰
• For comparison, cisgender men who have sex with men were recruited at fourteen urban sites in eight sub-Saharan African countries, aged eighteen and over (sixteen and over in The Gambia). All had had anal sex with a male partner in the past year. 44.7% of these men said, in answer to a single screening question, that they had felt sad or depressed in the past two weeks. (survey, at one point in time, 2011-2016 data) ¹⁰
• In a nationally representative cohort in Australia, 64% of trans young people aged about eighteen reported high or very high psychological distress over the past four weeks when surveyed in 2018. (survey, at one point in time, 2018 data) ⁴
• In an online survey of LGBTQ+ young people in the United States in 2023, 71% of transgender and nonbinary respondents reported recent symptoms of anxiety. (survey, at one point in time, 2023 data) ³
• In a national household survey in Indonesia in 2021, 15.3% of gender diverse adolescents aged twelve to seventeen had depressive symptoms in the past year. (survey, past 12 months, 2021 data) ¹¹
• In a national household survey in Indonesia in 2021, 5.7% of cisgender adolescents aged twelve to seventeen had depressive symptoms in the past year. (survey, past 12 months, 2021 data) ¹¹

Discrimination and minority stress

Minority stress is the extra, ongoing strain of facing prejudice, hiding who you are or expecting rejection. Some LGBTQ+ people have experienced so-called conversion practices: harmful attempts to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity, as the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights survey describes them.

• Across the EU, 24% of LGBTIQ people aged fifteen and over who answered an online survey in 2023 had experienced so-called conversion practices. (survey, lifetime (ever), 2023 data) ¹²

Getting care

Many LGBTQ+ people who want mental health care cannot get it, and some avoid health services for fear of discrimination. The EU figures come from the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights survey, and the UK figures from the Government Equalities Office's National LGBT Survey.

• In the United Kingdom, 24% of LGBT people answering a national online survey in 2017 had used mental health services in the previous twelve months. (survey, past 12 months, 2017 data) ¹³
• Among LGBT people aged sixteen and over in the United Kingdom answering a national online survey in 2017, 8% had tried to access mental health services but had not been able to. (survey, past 12 months, 2017 data) ¹³
• In the EU, 45% of LGBTIQ people answering an online survey in 2023 had met difficulties when using or trying to use healthcare services. (survey, 2023 data) ¹²
• Across the EU, 6% of LGBTIQ people aged fifteen and over who answered an online survey in 2023 had avoided healthcare for fear of discrimination or intolerant reactions. (survey, 2023 data) ¹²
• Among LGBTQ+ young people in Peru who wanted mental health care in the past year, 45.4% could not get it, in an online survey run in 2022. (survey, past 12 months, 2022 data) ¹⁴
• In a national online survey of lesbian, gay and bisexual people in China, 11.1% had ever received mental health care. (survey, lifetime (ever), published 2020, fieldwork year not stated) ¹⁵

Thoughts of suicide

Surveys find that LGBTQ+ people, and young people especially, are more likely to have had thoughts of suicide. The European figure comes from the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights survey, and the United States figure from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey. The Mexican figures come from the national survey on sexual and gender diversity by INEGI, Mexico's national statistics office. If you are thinking about suicide, help is available now: see our helplines and crisis lines worldwide.

• Across the EU, 37% of LGBTIQ people aged fifteen and over who answered an online survey in 2023 had thought about suicide in the previous year. (survey, past 12 months, 2023 data) ¹²
• In 2023, 41.0% of lesbian, gay, bisexual and questioning high school students in the United States had seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year. (survey, past 12 months, 2023 data) ⁶
• In Mexico, 26.1% of LGBTI+ people aged fifteen and over had ever had thoughts of suicide, in a national household survey run in 2021-2022. (survey, lifetime (ever), 2021-2022 data) ⁹
• In Mexico, 7.9% of people aged fifteen and over who were not LGBTI+ had ever had thoughts of suicide, in a national household survey. (survey, lifetime (ever), 2021-2022 data) ⁹

How to read these figures

Higher rates among LGBTQ+ people do not mean that being LGBTQ+ causes poor mental health.

Some figures come from national surveys that pick people at random. Others come from online or community samples, which may include more people who are struggling or in touch with services. Each figure names its sample.

Each figure keeps the group name its survey used, such as LGBT+, LGBTI or LGBTIQ.

Surveys ask about sexual orientation and gender identity in different ways, and some people choose not to answer, so the groups differ between countries.

This page reports figures about transgender and gender diverse people separately from figures about sexual orientation where a source does so; some figures combine groups.

LGBTQ+ people do best where others accept them: supportive families, schools and workplaces, legal protection and health services that respect who they are. Affirming therapy, with a therapist who understands minority stress, can help with anxiety, depression and the effects of discrimination.

Our guide on how to find the right therapist explains what to look for, including how to ask a therapist about their experience with LGBTQ+ clients. If you are in distress right now, see our helplines and crisis lines worldwide.

Cite this page: TherapyRoute. LGBTQ+ mental health statistics worldwide. https://www.therapyroute.com/article/lgbtq-mental-health-statistics-worldwide-by-therapyroute. Last updated 26 October 2026.

References

1. [1] National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing, 2020-2022. Australian Bureau of Statistics, 5 October 2023 abs.gov.au.
2. [2] Socioeconomic profile of the 2SLGBTQ+ population aged 15 years and older, 2019 to 2021. Statistics Canada, The Daily, 2024-01-25 www150.statcan.gc.ca.
3. [3] 2024 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Young People. The Trevor Project, 2024 (fieldwork 2023) thetrevorproject.org.
4. [4] Prevalence, distribution, and inequitable co-occurrence of mental ill-health and substance use among gender and sexuality diverse young people in Australia: epidemiological findings from a population-based cohort study. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology (Bailey et al.), 2024 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
5. [5] LGBTIQ+ population of Aotearoa New Zealand: 2023. Stats NZ Tatauranga Aotearoa, published 2025 (data 2023) stats.govt.nz.
6. [6] Mental Health and Suicide Risk Among High School Students and Protective Factors - Youth Risk Behavior Survey, United States, 2023. MMWR Supplements, CDC (Verlenden et al.), 2024-10-10 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
7. [7] Association between same-sex partnership certificate schemes and mental health in sexual and gender minority adults: nationwide cross-sectional study. BMJ Open (Tatsuno et al.), 2026 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
8. [8] A systematic review of mental disorder, suicide, and deliberate self harm in lesbian, gay and bisexual people. BMC Psychiatry (King et al.), 2008 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
9. [9] Encuesta Nacional sobre Diversidad Sexual y de Género (ENDISEG) 2021: Resultados. Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía (INEGI), 2022 inegi.org.mx.
10. [10] HIV prevalence and behavioral and psychosocial factors among transgender women and cisgender men who have sex with men in 8 African countries: A cross-sectional analysis. PLOS Medicine (Poteat et al.), 2017 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
11. [11] Mental health among sexually and gender diverse adolescents in Indonesia and Vietnam: Results from the National Adolescent Mental Health Surveys. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health (Fine et al.), 2025 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
12. [12] LGBTIQ equality at a crossroads: progress and challenges (EU LGBTIQ Survey III). European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), 2024 (fieldwork 2023) fra.europa.eu.
13. [13] National LGBT Survey: Summary report. Government Equalities Office (UK), 2018 (survey 2017) gov.uk.
14. [14] Understanding suicide risk among LGBTQ+ youth in Peru: Findings from a nationwide mental health survey. Cambridge Prisms: Global Mental Health (Jauregui et al.), 2026 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
15. [15] A nationwide cross-sectional study of 15,611 lesbian, gay and bisexual people in China: disclosure of sexual orientation and experiences of negative treatment in health care. International Journal for Equity in Health (Suen et al.), published 2020 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.