Police-recorded hate crime in England and Wales has risen for the first time in three years. Both racially and religiously motivated offences increased during the year ending March 2025.
Hate crimes targeting Muslims surged from 2,690 to 3,199 offences, marking an 18 per cent increase. The Home Office noted a clear spike in these offences during August 2024, coinciding with the Southport murders on 29 July and the subsequent riots across English towns and cities.
Jewish hate crime data incomplete
Religious hate crimes against Jewish people dropped by 18 per cent according to available figures, falling from 2,093 to 1,715 offences. However, the Home Office cautioned that these statistics exclude data from the Metropolitan Police due to changes in their crime recording system.
The Met recorded 40 per cent of all religious hate crimes targeting Jewish people in the previous year. This significant exclusion means the true picture of antisemitic incidents remains unclear.
Overall statistics show mixed trends
Police across England and Wales recorded 115,990 hate crime offences excluding the Met, representing a two per cent increase from 113,166 the previous year. Including the Met, the total reached 137,550 hate crimes, though this figure cannot be compared directly year-on-year due to recording changes.
Race hate crimes climbed six per cent from 77,901 to 82,490 during the same period. Religiously motivated hate crimes increased three per cent from 6,973 to 7,164 offences, reaching their highest annual total on record.
Other hate crime categories decline
Sexual orientation hate crimes fell two per cent to 19,127 from 18,702 offences. Disability hate crimes decreased more significantly by eight per cent from 11,131 to 10,224.
Transgender hate crimes dropped 11 per cent from 4,258 to 3,809, marking the second consecutive annual fall in this category. The current figures represent a reversal of the downward trend seen since the pandemic peak of 128,485 hate crimes in the year to March 2022.
Sources used: "Home Office" Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
