Religiously motivated hate crime in the UK rose by 9 per cent last year

RELIGIONS NEWS AGENCY (REDNA) – Home Office figures showed a rise in religiously motivated hate crime in the year to March 2023, going up from 8,602 to 9,387 offences – a rise of 9 per cent.

This is the highest number for 11 years. Muslims experienced the most targeted hate crime, accounting for 39 per cent of cases.

The Home Office report says “In the year ending March 2023, where the perceived religion of the victim was recorded, 2 in 5 (39 per cent) of religious hate crime offences were targeted against Muslims (3,452 offences).

The next most commonly targeted group were Jewish people, who were targeted in around 1 in 6 (17 per cent) of religious hate crimes (1,510 offences).”

The rise bucks the trend of the overall hate crime stats, which declined to 145,214 cases last year, after nine years of continual rise.