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 welcomes immigrants than their peers in OECD countries (Figure 7.10). Over 85% of Australians and New Zealanders respond affirmative when asked whether their country is a good place to live for immigrants. By contrast, less than a quarter of Cambodians and Thais say the same (Figure 7.10, right scale). The biggest decline in positive sentiment since 2006/2008 appears to have taken place in Kazakhstan, while residents of the Kyrgyz Republic and Pakistan think their country has become a better place for immigrants.
On average across the Asia/Pacific and OECD countries at least two-thirds of the population consider their country tolerant towards ethnic minorities (Figure 7.11). Residents of Pakistan, Cambodia and Indonesia perceive their country to have become significantly more tolerant towards ethnic minorities over the last decade. The opposite trend emergences when considering the sentiment in India and Kazakhstan where tolerance towards minorities is now at a lower level.
OECD countries appear on average to be more tolerant of gays and lesbians than countries in the Asia/Pacific region (Figure 7.12). Nepal, New Zealand and Australia record the highest perceived tolerance levels followed by Hong Kong (China) and the Philippines. Only less than 5% of the population in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Sri Lanka report that their country is a good place to live for gays and lesbians.
or 3%; with a sample size of 4 000, this is 1.5%. To minimise the effect of annual fluctuations in responses related to small sample sizes, results are averaged over a three-year period, or two-year period in case of missing data. If only one observation in a three-year period is available this finding is not reported.
