Methodology
What the map shows, where each statement comes from, and what the classification cannot capture.
Five legal models
Each country is placed in one of five models, using the categories common in comparative research on prostitution policy. On the map they run as a scale from the least to the most criminalised. The model describes the national framework; where regions or cities differ, the profile says so under Regional differences.
| Decriminalisation | No prostitution-specific criminal law. Sex work is regulated like other work. |
| Regulation (legal & licensed) | Selling sex and running venues are legal under a licensing or registration regime. |
| Legal, organisation banned | Selling and buying are legal, but brothels, procuring and organising are criminal offences. |
| Buying criminalised (Nordic model) | Buying sex is an offence; selling it is not (the "Nordic" or "Equality" model). |
| Selling and buying prohibited | Selling sex is an offence (criminal or administrative), whether or not buying is. |
Borderline cases are explained on the country's page. Examples: a country with no specific law on buying sex but a licensing regime counts as regulation; a country where selling is only an administrative offence still counts as prohibition, because the person selling sex is penalised. Japan, where the law declares selling and buying prohibited but punishes neither, counts as abolitionism: the model follows what is penalised, not what is declared.
The questions
Every country answers the five core questions; full profiles answer all eleven. Each answer describes an adult, consensual situation with no trafficking or coercion. Offences involving minors, coercion or trafficking are criminal everywhere in Europe and are not what the status shows.
- Selling sexual services (core)
- Buying sexual services (core)
- Brothels and managed venues (core)
- Sex workers sharing premises
- Third parties profiting (procuring / pimping) (core)
- Advertising sexual services (core)
- Online platforms and ad sites
- Street-based sex work and soliciting
- Registration, licensing and health checks
- Tax and social security
- Migrant sex workers
Each answer has one status:
| Legal | Lawful without a specific permit regime. |
| Legal under licence / registration | Lawful only with a licence, registration or permit. |
| Legal with restrictions | Lawful in principle, but significantly limited (zones, hours, forms of work), or lawful for some and an offence for others. |
| Illegal | A criminal or administrative offence; the profile says which. Rarely, the law prohibits an act without any penalty (Japan); the profile then says "prohibited, no penalty". |
| Varies by region | Depends on the region or municipality. |
Terminology
We use prostitution for the activity and the law, because it is the word the statutes, courts and international bodies use. For the people, we use sex workers or people who sell sex. Neither choice is meant to take a side; where a law uses its own term, we quote it.
Sources
Statements about what the law says link to the official consolidated text on the national legislation portal, at the level of the section where possible. Court rulings link to the court's own database. Government reports, parliamentary records and official statistics come next. Academic, NGO and news sources are used for context, enforcement practice and pending legislation, never as the only source for what a statute says.
Every source carries the date it was last opened, and every answer the date it was last checked. Where a source could not be checked directly, or the law is contested or unclear, the answer is marked confidence: medium orlow with an explanation.
Statistics come only from official statistics, government evaluations, police and court data, international organisations or peer-reviewed research, each with its year and the limits of what it counts.
Keeping it current
We follow legislative trackers, court databases and official announcements in each country and update a profile when a law, ruling or review changes something. Open bills and reviews are listed on What’s changing, with the next known date. A full re-check of every profile runs at least once a year.
Limits
- A statute is not its enforcement. Where practice differs sharply from the text, the profile notes it.
- Local rules (zoning, municipal licensing, bans in city centres) are summarised, not listed exhaustively.
- This is a description of the law, not legal advice.
Spotted an error? See corrections.