New PSNI report shows 2,048 racist incidents and 1,280 race hate crimes - among the highest levels recorded since records began in 2004

Four of the five highest monthly levels of race hate incidents since 2004 were recorded between June and September 2025

Year ending 30 September 2025 was one of worst-ever periods for racist hate crime after Ballymena riots and migrant attacks

Amnesty is calling for a new anti-racism strategy from the NI Executive

‘Behind every shocking statistic, there is a real person or family left living in fear’-

– Patrick Corrigan

Amnesty International has branded the past 12 months “a shameful year of hate” in Northern Ireland, after new PSNI figures revealed racist hate crime continues at its highest level since records began in 2004.

Published today (27 November) by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, the report covers the 12 months to 30 September 2025. The figures include the impact of the racist attacks and riots in Ballymena and other towns in June 2025 and the ongoing wave of attacks on families from migrant and minoritised communities.

The report reveals that there have been 2,048 race hate incidents and 1,280 crimes recorded by the police. There were 270 more race incidents and 112 more race hate crimes recorded in the last 12 months than in the previous corresponding period. Almost half of the race hate crimes (588) and incidents (912) occurred in Belfast.

June 2025 saw 347 race incidents, the second highest-monthly total on record, surpassed only by August 2024 (349 race incidents).  

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

“This has been a shameful year of racist violence – from the targeting of families in Ballymena and other towns this summer to daily attacks on homes right across Northern Ireland.

“Behind every shocking statistic, there is a real person or family left living in fear.

“Yet too many politicians have echoed anti-migrant misinformation that provides the backdrop to these attacks, rather than stand with the victims of hate crimes.

“Meanwhile, the Executive’s under-powered 2015-25 Race Equality Strategy has been a dismal failure. It expires in a month, with no agreed plan in place to follow.

“We urgently need a bold action plan to confront and dismantle the toxic prejudice that has been allowed to take root across Northern Ireland.”