A report on Hate Crime in Scotland 2025-26 was published today. This brings together figures on race crime, and on crime motivated by prejudice related to religion, disability, sexual orientation, transgender identity, age and variations in sex characteristics. This report includes figures on the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021, which came into force on 1 April 2024.
The main findings are
- In 2025-26, the total number of charges reported containing at least one element of hate crime was 7,115, an increase of 17% compared to 2024-25. This is the highest number reported over the period since 2003-04 when figures first became available.
- In total 3,990 charges relating to race crime were reported in 2025-26, an increase of 17% compared to 2024-25. This is the highest number of charges reported since 2013-14. Racial crime remains the most commonly reported hate crime, featuring in 56% of all hate crime charges.
- Sexual orientation aggravated crime is the second most commonly reported type of hate crime. The number of charges reported increased by 20% in 2025-26 to 2,062. This is the highest number of such charges since legislation creating this aggravation first came into force in 2010.
- The number of disability aggravated charges increased by 25% to 1,370 in 2025-26. This is the highest annual number of charges reported since the legislation creating this aggravation came into force in 2010 and continues an almost unbroken upward trend in the numbers since then.
- There were 537 charges with a religious aggravation reported in 2025-26, 5.1% more than in 2024-25.
- There were 104 charges reported in 2025-26 with an aggravation of transgender identity, compared with 86 reported in 2024-25. This is the highest number of such charges since legislation creating this aggravation first came into force in 2010.
- In 2025-26, 44 charges were reported with an aggravation of age. In 2024-25, the first year after this aggravation was introduced, 80 charges were reported.
- In 2025-26, 6 charges were reported with an aggravation of variations in sex characteristics. In 2024-25, the first year after this aggravation was introduced, 13 charges were reported.
- In 2025-26, 67 stirring up hatred charges relating to race were reported under S4(1) of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021. This is more than double the 29 charges reported in 2024-25.
- In 2025-26, 48 stirring up hatred charges relating to other protected characteristics were reported under S4(2) and (3) of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021. This is around a quarter fewer than the 63 charges reported in 2024-25.
Notes for Editors
- A full copy of the publication can be accessed at
https://www.copfs.gov.uk/publications/hate-crime-in-scotland-2025-26/
- The figures quoted relate to the number of charges rather than the number of individuals charged or the number of incidents that gave rise to such charges. Where a charge has more than one hate crime aggravation, it is included in the overall figures for each type of hate crime into which it falls.
- The publication does not include information on convictions or conviction rates. Many of the charges reported in 2025-26 will not yet have reached conviction stage. The Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings database is the usual source for convictions data, and they have published figures for years up to 2023-24 on people with a main charge proved with an aggravator recorded - see tables 12 and 13 at Criminal+Proceedings+in+Scotland+-+2023-24+-+Main+tables.xlsx