Race incidents and crimes were the highest recorded since the data series began in 2004/05

Date published: 15 May 2025

New official statistics published today by NISRA Statisticians in the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) present Incidents and Crimes with a Hate Motivation Recorded by the Police in Northern Ireland for the 12 month period ending March 2025.

Key findings:

• Race hate incidents reached 1,807 in 2024/25, the highest financial year level since records began in 2004/05, with an increase of 454 incidents compared to the previous year.
• Race hate crimes similarly rose to 1,188, an increase of 349 crimes, also marking the highest level since recording began.
• August 2024 saw 349 race incidents recorded - the single highest monthly level ever recorded, approximately double the previous high of 171 in July 2024.
• Sectarian hate incidents and crimes saw the largest decreases, falling by 181 incidents and 142 crimes respectively.
• Sexual orientation, disability and transgender identity motivations also saw decreases in both incidents and crimes compared to 2023/24.
• Faith/religion motivated incidents increased, though by a smaller margin than race incidents.
• The number of sectarian hate crimes (588) was the second lowest financial year level recorded since 2005/06, with the lowest (576) recorded in 2017/18.

About the publication:

The bulletin provides detailed analysis of:

• Incident and crime trends across six hate motivation strands
• Monthly and annual patterns of hate-motivated incidents
• Geographic distribution of hate crimes across Northern Ireland
• Comparison with previous years' data
• Detailed breakdown of specific crime types

Further information:

Read the full report: Hate Motivations Bulletin Period ending 31st March 2025