The number of hate crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales has increased by 7% in a year, with record levels reached for both crimes motivated by racial hatred and those related to religious hatred, DPA reported, quoted by BTA.
A total of 146,825 hate crimes were recorded by authorities in England and Wales in the 12 months to the end of March 2026, figures from the UK Home Office show.
Cases motivated by religious hatred increased by 13% - from 10,067 in the previous year to 11,419 in the reporting period.
Crimes motivated by racial hatred again represent the majority. Their number reached 107,926, which is 9% more than 98,890 cases a year earlier.
The comparisons with previous years do not include data from the London Metropolitan Police due to a change in its crime recording system.
Excluding data from London, 8,214 crimes motivated by religious hatred were recorded in England and Wales in the 12 months to the end of March. This is the highest annual number since the beginning of statistics for the year ending in March 2012.
In the same period, 90,378 crimes motivated by racial hatred were also recorded. This indicator also reaches a record level since the beginning of statistics collection in 2012.
Among religiously motivated crimes, cases targeting Muslims increased by 15% compared to the previous year. Religious hate crimes against Jews have increased by 10%.