The degree of community acceptance of minority groups is a measurable dimension of social cohesion. Acceptance of three such groups is considered here: migrants, ethnic minorities and gay and lesbian people.
On average, people in the Asia/Pacific region are less likely to think that their country is a good place for immigrants to live than their peers in OECD countries (Figure 7.10). Roughly 90% of Australians and New Zealanders respond affirmatively when asked whether their place is a good place to live for immigrants, but less than a third of Cambodians, Malaysians and Thais say the same (Figure 7.10). The biggest decline in the positive sentiment since 2012‑13 was recorded for Lao PDR, while India and Viet Nam are the countries with the highest increase in the share of people who think their region is a good place to live for immigrants.
On average, across the Asia/Pacific and OECD countries, 75% or more of the population consider their country tolerant towards ethnic minorities (Figure 7.11). Overall perception of tolerance towards ethnic minorities increased by almost 13 percentage points over the last decade in the Asia/Pacific region. The largest increases were observed in Indonesia, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Viet Nam, with at least a 30 percentage point difference since 2012‑13.
On average, the share of people in OECD countries who think that their area is a good place to live for gay and lesbian people is much higher than in the Asia/Pacific region (Figure 7.12). Australia, Nepal and New Zealand record the highest perceived tolerance levels (around 85% or more), followed by Bangladesh and Viet Nam. The increase in the share of people who think that their area is a good place to live for gay and lesbian people has increased by about 50 percentage points over the past ten years in Bangladesh, Nepal and Viet Nam. On the other hand, 6% or less of the population in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan think that their area is a good place to live for gay and lesbian people.
