The number of racially motivated hate crimes recorded by police in England and Wales over one year has topped 100,000 for the first time. Race hate crimes made up the majority of hate crimes, as in previous years, with forces recording 109,843 offences.
In total 155,841 hate crimes were recorded by police in England and Wales in the year to March. The number of offences rose by more than a quarter, a 26% increase from the previous year, Home Office data shows. This is the biggest rise in hate crimes that England and Wales has seen since 2017.
The number of racially motivated hate crimes increased by 19% from the year ending 2021, the figures show. Some crimes had more than one motivating factor, according to police reports.
There were 8,730 religious hate crimes, 26,152 sexual orientation hate crimes, 14,242 disability hate crimes, and 4,355 transgender hate crimes. Religious hate crimes rose by 37% to reach the highest level since records began in 2012.
Sexual orientation hate crimes increased by 41%, and disability hate crimes by 43%. Transgender identity hate crimes increased by 56%.
Fewer hate crimes motivated by transgender identity were recorded compared with all other motivations, but this group saw the biggest percentage rise. The Home Office said this increase could be due to transgender issues being “heavily discussed on social media” over the last year.
The Home Office report, published on Thursday, said: “It is uncertain to what degree the increase in police-recorded hate crime is a genuine rise or due to continued recording improvements and more victims having the confidence to report these crimes to the police.”
The rise in the latest year was partly due to the “suppressant effect” of public health restrictions in place during the pandemic, when lower levels of crime were recorded, it added. Triggers for short-term, genuine rises in recent years include the EU referendum in June 2016, terror attacks in 2017, and the Black Lives Matter protests and far-right counter-protests in summer 2020.
