Equal rights of inheritance for sons and daughters when no will is left by country

When parents die without a will, sons and daughters have the same rights to inherit.

Countries reporting
185
Highest
1 (1=yes; 0=no)
Angola
Lowest
0 (1=yes; 0=no)
Yemen
Median
1 (1=yes; 0=no)
Years covered
54
1970–2023
Data points
10,152

What the numbers show

Equal rights of inheritance for sons and daughters when no will is left is currently reported for 185 countries. The highest value is 1 (1=yes; 0=no) in Angola; the lowest is 0 (1=yes; 0=no) in Yemen.

The median across all reporting countries is 1 (1=yes; 0=no), and the mean is 0.7784 (1=yes; 0=no).

Equal rights of inheritance for sons and daughters when no will is left: full country ranking

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 Angola 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Albania 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Argentina 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Armenia 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Antigua and Barbuda 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Australia 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Austria 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Azerbaijan 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Belgium 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Benin 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged volatile
1 Burkina Faso 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Bulgaria 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Bahamas 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged volatile
1 Bosnia and Herzegovina 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Belarus 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Belize 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Bolivia 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Brazil 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Barbados 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Bhutan 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Central African Republic 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Canada 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Switzerland 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Chile 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 China 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Cote d'Ivoire 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Cameroon 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Democratic Republic of Congo 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged volatile
1 Congo 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Colombia 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Cape Verde 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Costa Rica 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Cyprus 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Czechia 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Germany 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Dominica 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Denmark 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Dominican Republic 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Ecuador 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Eritrea 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Spain 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Estonia 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Ethiopia 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Finland 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Fiji 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 France 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Micronesia (country) 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Gabon 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 United Kingdom 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Georgia 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Ghana 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged volatile
1 Guinea 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Guinea-Bissau 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Equatorial Guinea 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Greece 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Grenada 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Guatemala 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Guyana 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Hong Kong 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Honduras 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Croatia 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Haiti 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Hungary 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 India 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged volatile
1 Iceland 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Israel 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Italy 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Jamaica 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Japan 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Kazakhstan 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Kenya 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged rising
1 Kyrgyzstan 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Cambodia 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Kiribati 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Saint Kitts and Nevis 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 South Korea 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged volatile
1 Laos 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Liberia 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Saint Lucia 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Sri Lanka 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 volatile
1 Lesotho 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged volatile
1 Lithuania 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Latvia 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Moldova 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Mexico 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 North Macedonia 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Mali 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged volatile
1 Myanmar 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Montenegro 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Mongolia 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Mozambique 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Mauritius 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Malawi 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Namibia 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Nigeria 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged rising
1 Nicaragua 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Netherlands 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Norway 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Nepal 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 volatile
1 New Zealand 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Panama 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Peru 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Philippines 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Papua New Guinea 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Poland 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Puerto Rico 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Portugal 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Paraguay 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Romania 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Russia 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Rwanda 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged volatile
1 Singapore 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Solomon Islands 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Sierra Leone 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged volatile
1 El Salvador 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 San Marino 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Serbia 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 South Sudan 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged volatile
1 Sao Tome and Principe 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Suriname 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Slovakia 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Slovenia 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Sweden 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Seychelles 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Chad 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Togo 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged rising
1 Thailand 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Tajikistan 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 East Timor 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Trinidad and Tobago 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Turkey 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Uganda 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 volatile
1 Ukraine 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Uruguay 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 United States 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Uzbekistan 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Venezuela 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Vietnam 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Vanuatu 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 Samoa 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
1 South Africa 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged volatile
1 Zambia 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged volatile
1 Zimbabwe 1 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 unchanged flat
148 Afghanistan 0 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 flat
148 United Arab Emirates 0 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 flat
148 Burundi 0 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 flat
148 Bangladesh 0 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 flat
148 Bahrain 0 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 flat
148 Brunei 0 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 flat
148 Botswana 0 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 flat
148 Comoros 0 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 flat
148 Djibouti 0 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 flat
148 Algeria 0 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 flat
148 Egypt 0 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 flat
148 Gambia 0 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 flat
148 Indonesia 0 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 flat
148 Iran 0 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 flat
148 Iraq 0 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 flat
148 Jordan 0 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 flat
148 Kuwait 0 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 flat
148 Lebanon 0 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 flat
148 Libya 0 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 flat
148 Morocco 0 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 flat
148 Madagascar 0 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 flat
148 Maldives 0 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 flat
148 Marshall Islands 0 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 flat
148 Mauritania 0 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 flat
148 Malaysia 0 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 flat
148 Niger 0 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 flat
148 Oman 0 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 flat
148 Pakistan 0 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 flat
148 Palau 0 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 flat
148 Palestine 0 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 flat
148 Qatar 0 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 flat
148 Saudi Arabia 0 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 flat
148 Sudan 0 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 flat
148 Senegal 0 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 flat
148 Somalia 0 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 flat
148 Eswatini 0 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 flat
148 Syria 0 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 flat
148 Tonga 0 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 flat
148 Tunisia 0 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 flat
148 Tanzania 0 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 flat
148 Yemen 0 (1=yes; 0=no) 2023 flat

About this data

Indicator
Equal rights of inheritance for sons and daughters when no will is left
Unit
(1=yes; 0=no)
Source
Women, Business and the Law; World Bank – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
188 places, 10,152 data points, 1970–2023
Last refreshed

When parents die without a will, sons and daughters have the same rights to inherit.