More than 6,000 hate crimes recorded in Wales

Mark Mansfield

Police recorded more than 6,000 hate crimes in Wales last year, with racial hostility accounting for two-thirds of offences.

Home Office figures show 6,157 hate crimes were recorded across the four Welsh police force areas between April 2025 and March 2026. Of those, 4,098 were race hate crimes.

The figures also included 1,107 offences motivated by hostility towards sexual orientation, 648 disability hate crimes, 325 religious hate crimes and 242 transgender hate crimes.

An offence can be recorded under more than one category, so the breakdown exceeds the total.

The figures were published ahead of Hate Crime Awareness Week.

Deputy First Minister Sioned Williams said: “The figures published this week are a reminder that hate crime remains a reality for too many people in Wales. We know many incidents still go unreported and these figures should not be viewed in isolation. We are working with police and criminal justice partners to break down barriers to reporting and ensure victims have the confidence to come forward.

“Everyone should be able to feel safe, valued and respected in their community, and as a government, we stand firmly against prejudice and hatred in all its forms.”

Across England and Wales, police recorded 146,825 hate crimes in the year to March 2026.

For year-on-year comparisons, the Home Office excluded Metropolitan Police figures because of a change in the force’s recording system. On that basis, recorded hate crime rose by 7% to 123,957 offences.

Excluding the Met, racially and religiously motivated offences also reached their highest levels since records began in 2012.

The combined England and Wales figures, including the Met, showed offences targeting Muslims rose by 15% to 5,132, while those targeting Jewish people increased by 10% to 3,162.

Recorded hate crimes relating to sexual orientation fell by 1%, disability hate crimes by 5% and transgender hate crimes by 4% across the two nations. A year-on-year breakdown for Wales was not provided.

Challenge

Commander Claire Smart, hate crime lead at the National Police Chiefs’ Council, said: “The challenge for policing is not simply responding to offences after they occur.

“It is understanding the factors driving harm, identifying tensions early, working with communities and partners, and preventing issues from developing into even more serious crimes.

“People must feel able to come forward, knowing they will be listened to, treated with dignity and supported throughout the process.”

Ms Williams appealed directly to witnesses, saying: “If you are a witness, you have a crucial role to play. You can put victims in control of what happens next. Your witness statement might be the critical factor which secures justice. We must stand up to hate together.”

Becca Rosenthal, manager of Victim Support’s Wales Hate Support Centre, said people too often tried to cope alone because they believed nothing could be done or feared they would not be taken seriously.

Victims and witnesses can report incidents directly to police. Free, confidential support, independent of the police, is available through the Welsh Government-funded centre on 0300 3031 982 or at Victim Support’s website.

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