New PSNI report shows 1,807 racist incidents 1,188 crimes in the year to end of March 2025 - the highest levels recorded since records began in 2004/05

Level of race hate incidents hit new high during summer 2024

‘These police figures should be a wake-up call to the Executive. Its racial equality strategy has failed. Promises made years ago remain broken. Meanwhile racism has grown’ – Patrick Corrigan 

The last 12 months were a ‘year of hate’ according to Amnesty International following new figures published today (15 May) showing racist attacks hit an all-time high over the last year. 

The figures were published today in a report by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA), which tracked recorded hate crimes and incidents for the 12 months to the end of March 2025. 

The report reveals that there 1,807 incidents 1,188 crimes recorded by the police in the year to date. There were 454 more race incidents and 349 more race hate crimes recorded in the last 12 months than in the previous corresponding period.  

Six of the eight highest monthly levels of race incidents since records began in 2004 were recorded between May and October 2024. 

More than half (635) of recorded race hate crimes in the period were in Belfast.   

Patrick Corrigan, Amnesty International’s Northern Ireland Director, said: 

“The past year has been a year of hate for victims of racism in Northern Ireland. These figures should serve as a stark wake-up call for the Northern Ireland Executive. 

“The Executive’s ten-year racial equality strategy has failed. Promises made years ago remain broken, while racism has been allowed to flourish. Last year, race hate crime hit an all-time high – a shameful milestone. 

“As the current Racial Equality Strategy nears its expiration at the end of this year, the Executive must deliver more than rhetoric. It must implement a bold, effective action plan to confront and dismantle the toxic prejudice that has taken root across Northern Ireland.” 

An independent review of the Northern Ireland Executive's Racial Equality Strategy 2015 - 2025, commissioned by the Executive and published in December 2024, found the strategy has been undermined by the lack of an action plan and budget.