Hate Crime Statistics

This briefing paper looks at Hate Crime in England & Wales using figures provided by the Crime Survey of England and Wales (CSEW) and the Police Recorded Crime Series. The paper also presents data on hate crime rates per 100,000 population in each police force area and for each hate crime strand. It also looks at similar figures in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Police Recorded Hate Crime 

Police recorded crime figures show in 2018/19 that there were 103,379 offences recorded by the police where one or more of the central monitored hate crime strands were deemed to be a motivating factor. This was 10% higher than in 2017/18.

The increase in Police recorded hate crime over time has partly been attributed to better recording methods used and greater awareness in reporting hate crimes.

EU Referendum

Home Office figures show there was a sharp increase in racially and religiously motivated hate crime around the 2016 EU referendum. The number of racially and religiously motivated hate crimes was 44% higher than in July 2015 of the previous year.

Police Force Area Data

The highest rate of hate crimes recorded per 100,000 population in 2018/19 was in the West Yorkshire Police Force Area (354). The lowest rate was found in North Yorkshire (66). The rate for England and Wales including the British Transport Police was 175.

Two police force areas, West Yorkshire and Avon and Kent were amongst the 10 highest rates recorded for each hate crime strand.