New police statistics have revealed that the number of race hate incidents recorded in Northern Ireland over the past year is the third highest since records began.
The data, covering the 12 months from 1 October 2024 to 30 September 2025, shows a significant increase in offences motivated by racial hatred compared to the previous year. This period included the anti-immigration riots that spread across several towns in June.
A Surge in Racially Motivated Offences
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) documented 2,048 race hate incidents and 1,280 race hate crimes during this timeframe. This represents an increase of 270 more incidents and 112 more crimes than the previous 12 months.
Four of the five highest monthly levels for race incidents occurred between June and September 2025, directly coinciding with the public disorder. The unrest began in Ballymena after two Romanian-speaking teenagers were charged with attempted rape, and subsequently spread to Larne, Belfast, and Portadown.
Notably, June 2025 saw 347 race incidents, the second-highest monthly figure ever recorded, just two incidents short of the record set in August 2024.
Broader Trends in Hate Crime
While race hate saw the most dramatic rise, the figures also showed changes in other categories of hate crime:
- Sexual orientation incidents rose slightly from 359 to 363, while related crimes fell from 221 to 215.
- Transgender identity incidents and crimes increased from 61 to 68 and from 31 to 39 respectively.
- Faith/religion incidents and crimes saw a decrease.
- Sectarian and disability-related crimes showed mixed results.
Calls for Political Action
Human rights organisation Amnesty International condemned the findings, describing it as a shameful year of racist violence. Patrick Corrigan, Amnesty International’s Northern Ireland director, criticised politicians for echoing anti-migrant misinformation and highlighted the failure of the existing Race Equality Strategy.
We urgently need a bold action plan to confront and dismantle the toxic prejudice that has been allowed to take root across Northern Ireland, Mr Corrigan stated, calling on the Stormont Executive to author a new, robust anti-racism strategy immediately.
