Religious hate crimes are on the rise in England and Wales, according to new figures released by the Home Office this week.
Police recorded a total of 115,990 hate crime offences in the year to March 2025, up 2% from 113,166 the previous year.
The figures exclude data from London’s Metropolitan Police due to changes in its recording methodology.
Data showed that religious hate crimes rose by 3% to 7,164 recorded incidents over the last year - the highest numbers on record.
This was considerably higher than the 4,527 religious hate crime incidents recorded in the 2020/21 period.
Of the total religious hate crime incidents recorded in the last year, 502 were against Christians.
The majority were against Muslims (4,478) and Jews (2,873). Religious hate crimes against Muslims rose 19%, with a spike seen in the wake of the Southport murders and ensuing unrest, the Home Office said.
Other data published by the Home Office showed that race-related hate crimes rose by 6% over the same period, while offences linked to sexual orientation, disability and transgender identity declined by 2%, 8% and 11% respectively.
Including Metropolitan Police data, police across England and Wales recorded a total of 137,550 hate crimes.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the statistics "show that too many people are living in fear because of who they are, what they believe, or where they come from".
"I will not tolerate British people being targeted simply because of their religion, race, or identity," she said.
