Race and religious hate crimes in England and Wales hit record high

Record highs for race and religious offences

Police recorded 146,825 hate crimes in England and Wales in the year to March 2026, representing a 7% rise on the previous year, according to Home Office statistics.

Race-related offences, which make up the vast majority of hate crimes, rose by 9% to 107,926. Religious hate crimes jumped by 13% to 11,419.

Because the Metropolitan Police changed its crime-recording system in early 2024, the Home Office analysed longer-term trends by excluding London's figures. Even with this exclusion, both race and religious hate crimes hit their highest levels since records began in 2012, at 90,378 and 8,214 offences respectively.

Spike in offences targeting Muslims

Religious hate crimes targeting Muslims rose by 15% to 5,132 offences. Excluding London, this represents the highest annual total since the government began collecting specific data in 2018.

The Home Office reported that these offences peaked in September 2025, coinciding with protests and public disorder, and spiked again in March 2026 after the US went to war with Iran.

The government-funded British Muslim Trust said it had verified 78 attacks and incidents at Muslim places of worship in the year to July, averaging one every five days. These included an arson attack at Peacehaven Mosque in East Sussex in October 2025, and an incident where bacon was left at a mosque in Bristol during Friday prayers in February 2026.

Akeela Ahmed, chief executive of the trust, said the figures show a "rising tide of hatred" that requires a whole-society response.

Antisemitism remains at elevated levels

Hate crimes against Jewish people rose by 10% to 3,162. Outside London, the 2,003 recorded offences represent the second-highest annual total on record, just below the peak seen after the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.

The Home Office said offences spiked in October 2025 following a terror attack at the Heaton Park Synagogue in Manchester, where Melvin Cravitz and Adrian Daulby were killed by Jihad Al-Shamie. The elevated levels of antisemitism continued throughout the year, including an incident in March 2026 where four Jewish community ambulances were set on fire in Golders Green, north London.

The Community Security Trust, which tracks antisemitic incidents, said the statistics show antisemitism remains at "an unacceptably high level" and urged society to address incitement linked to international conflicts.

Trends among other categories

Hate crimes targeting Christians also saw a sharp increase, rising 24% from 502 to 624 offences.

In contrast, other categories of hate crime recorded by police fell over the same 12-month period. Disability-related hate crimes decreased by 5% to 10,140, transgender hate crimes fell by 4% to 3,955, and offences motivated by sexual orientation fell by 1% to 21,407.

Ilyas Nagdee, Racial Justice Lead at Amnesty International UK, described the rising figures as "a genuine emergency" that shows "racism, violence and fear are tragically becoming a day-to-day reality across the UK."