Hate crimes recorded by the police in Scotland, 2024-25

Characteristics of hate crime

As noted above, the data to inform users of the characteristics laid out in sections 15 (3) and 15 (4) of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 was collected using a sample of 1,000 crime records. The sample was stratified by hate crime aggravator and police division. These crimes were then manually reviewed and data on characteristics of both victims and perpetrators and the prejudice shown were recorded.

When reviewing each crime record, the available information on victims and perpetrators was collected. Where possible, ethnicity was assigned to one of the 21 census codes as defined in Scotland’s Census.

A total of 1,000 hate aggravated crime records were sampled from 2024-25, representing around 12% of all cases recorded by the police during this year. The proportion sampled varied across the seven hate aggravators, ranging from 6% for Sexual Orientation to 100% (or all records at time of sampling) for Age and Variation in Sex Characteristics. The sample was also stratified by Police Scotland division, ensuring the prevalence of hate crime across the 13 geographic areas covered by those divisions was reflected within the research.

With the exception of the Age and Variation in Sex Characteristics hate aggravators, this research is based on a sample of police records (rather than all records), therefore the percentages (proportions) presented in this report are estimates. The true value may differ slightly from the findings presented below due to sampling error. As such, users should treat the following analysis as a broad indication of the characteristics of hate crime, rather than as an exact measure. Figures are presented at the national level, as sample sizes are insufficient to provide robust estimates at local authority and individual police division level.

Just under one in ten crimes (8%) in the original sample of 1,000 hate crimes has been excluded from the analysis presented below. This includes cases where (i) a crime did not appear to include a hate element and (ii) on further investigation by the police, the hate crime had been re-designated to not constitute a crime or offence.

Characteristics of victims of hate crime

As outlined further below, some of the protected characteristics (for example hate crimes with a sexual orientation aggravator) have a relatively high proportion of victims who were a police officer in the line of duty. The characteristics of these cases have been detailed separately to those crimes where the victim was not a police officer. Due to inconsistencies in recording practice, it has not been possible to provide characteristic information (age, sex and ethnicity) for police officer victims.

As noted previously, police recorded hate crime only covers those cases that come to the attention of the police. Given it is likely that all (or almost all) hate crime targeted against the police will be included within the measure of recorded hate crime, the proportion of recorded cases with a police officer victim will likely be higher than the equivalent measure for all hate crime committed in Scotland (i.e. including those cases that don’t get reported).

Characteristics of perpetrators of hate crime

In 2024-25, 70% of the hate crimes reviewed in the sample were detected and therefore had information regarding the perpetrator. Data is presented where the victim is a police officer and where they are not.

Age aggravated hate crime

This section reports on hate crimes that had an age aggravator attached, including cases where there was more than one aggravator present. As outlined above, as age is a new protected characteristic, we reviewed all age aggravated hate crimes.

Of all age aggravated hate crimes, 22% had a police officer victim.

Of the non-police victims of age aggravated hate crime, the clear majority (86%) were aged 60 and over, with a median age of 70. This is higher than the median age of all other hate aggravated crimes. Over two-thirds (69%) of the victims were male and almost all (97%) were of a white ethnicity. (Table 7)

Where the victim was non-police, perpetrators had a median age of 34, 86% were male and where known, 88% were of a white ethnicity.

Where the victim was a police officer, perpetrators had the same median age (34), 75% were male and where known, all were of a white ethnicity. (Table 8)

In the majority of these crimes, the prejudice shown was against older people.

Disability aggravated hate crime

This section reports on hate crimes that had a disability aggravator attached, including cases where there was more than one aggravator present.

Of all disability aggravated hate crimes which were sampled, 41% had a police officer victim and the remaining 59% were non-police victims.

Of the non-police victims of disability aggravated hate crime, 40% were aged 25 to 44, 23% were 45-59, 20% aged 16-24 and 13% under 16. The median age of disability aggravated hate crime victims was 33. Half of victims (50%) were male and 48% were female. Where known, all victims in the sampled cases were of a white ethnicity. (Table 7)

Where the victim was non-police, perpetrators had a median age of 33, 69% were male and 31% female. Where known, all were of a white ethnicity.

Where the victim was a police officer, perpetrators had a similar median age (31), were more commonly male (85%) and almost all (97%) were of a white ethnicity. (Table 8)

Looking at the prejudice shown by the perpetrator in disability aggravated hate crimes, where the victim was non-police the most common prejudice shown was towards those with a cognitive impairment (47%) and a further 36% of crimes involved the perpetrator showing prejudice towards those with a physical disability. Where the vicitm was a police officer, prejudice was more likely to be shown towards those with a cognitive impairment, with this accounting for 88% of crimes. (Table 10)

Race aggravated hate crime

This section reports on hate crimes that had a race aggravator attached, including cases where there was more than one aggravator present.

Of all race aggravated hate crimes which were sampled, 15% had a police officer victim, 81% had a non-police victim and the remaining 4% either had no victim or the victim was a business or organisation.

Of the non-police victims of race aggravated hate crime, over half (56%) were aged 25 to 44, with a median age of 37 and over two-thirds (68%) of victims were male. (Table 7)

The ethnicity of victims of race aggravated hate crime is more varied than victims of other hate crimes. Where information was available on the ethnicity of victims, three-quarters (or 75%) of race aggravated hate crimes had a victim from a visible minority ethnic (non-white) group. This compares to 7% of Scotland’s population at the time of the last census in 2022. More specifically 20% of victims were Pakistani, Pakistani Scottish or Pakistani British and 12% Indian, Indian Scottish or Indian British, compared to 1% of each in Scotland’s population at the time of the last census in 2022.

Conversely, 14% of victims of race aggravated hate crime were White Scottish / Other White British, compared to 87% in Scotland’s population at the time of the last census. Of those race aggravated hate crimes with a White Scottish / Other White British victim, a relatively high proportion (around a third) involved prejudice that was directed at a third party and not the victim themselves. Examples of such cases include where a victim’s property had been vandalised with racist graffiti or where a perpetrator made racist comments about someone else when assaulting the victim.

In addition to the ethnic groups outlined above, a further 9% of race aggravated hate crime victims were Other African (compared to 1% of Scotland’s population at the last census), 8% were Other Asian (1% of Scotland’s population) and 7% were White Polish (2% of Scotland’s population). (Table 9)

Where the victim was non-police, perpetrators had a median age of 34, 74% were male and 26% were female. Where known, 94% were of a white ethnicity.

Where the victim was a police officer, perpetrators had the same median age (34), 76% were male and 24% female. Where known, a similar proportion (93%) were of a white ethnicity. (Table 8)

Looking at the prejudice shown by the perpetrator in race aggravated hate crimes, we considered the three types used by Police Scotland to record this information. These were (i) skin colour, (ii) nationality and (iii) general prejudice. Depending on the circumstances, there could be multiple race prejudices recorded per crime, therefore the percentages will sum to more than 100%.

Where the victim was a non-police person, the most common prejudice was shown towards the Black community (34% of all race aggravated crimes). A further 32% of race aggravated hate crimes involved the perpetrator showing prejudice towards the Pakistani community, and in 17% of race aggravated hate crimes the prejudice shown was general xenophobia.

Where victims were police officers, the prejudice shown followed a similar pattern, with the most common predjudice shown being towards the Black community (33% of all race aggravated crimes). The next most common was general xenophobia, accounting for 19% of race aggravated hate crimes and a further 16% of race aggravated hate crimes involved the perpetrator showing prejudice towards the Pakistani community. (Table 11)

Religion aggravated hate crime

This section reports on hate crimes that had a religion aggravator attached, including cases where there was more than one aggravator present. Of all religion aggravated hate crimes, 29% also had a race aggravator.

Of all religion aggravated hate crimes which were sampled, 38% had a police officer victim, 49% had a non-police victim and the remaining 12% either had no victim or the victim was a business or organisation.

Of the non-police victims of religion aggravated hate crime, one third were aged 25 to 44, with a median age of 39. There was an even split of 50% male and 50% female victims. Around two-thirds (68%) of victims were of a white ethnicity, with a further 17% of Asian, Scottish Asian or British Asian ethnicity. (Table 7)

Where the victim was non-police, perpetrators had a median age of 44, 88% were male and where known, all sampled were of a white ethnicity.

Where the victim was a police officer, perpetrators tended to be younger, with a median age of 31, 98% were male and where known 94% were of a white ethnicity. (Table 8)

Looking at the prejudice shown by the perpetrator in religion aggravated hate crimes, for non-police victims the most common prejudice was shown towards the Catholic community (35% of cases). This was followed by 29% of crimes involving prejudice towards the Muslim/Islam community, 18% towards the Protestant community and 14% towards the Jewish community.

Where victims were police officers, the prejudice shown was more commonly towards the Catholic community (58% of cases) and Protestant community (26%). (Table 12)

At 12% of cases, there was a greater proportion of religion aggravated hate crimes with either no victim or where the victim was a business or organisation, than any other type of hate crime. These crimes covered a wide range of different prejudices, with no one type accounting for a majority of cases.

Sexual Orientation aggravated hate crime

This section reports on hate crimes that had a sexual orientation aggravator attached, including cases where there was more than one aggravator present.

Of the sexual orientation aggravated hate crimes which were sampled, 46% had a police officer victim, 53% had a non-police victim and the remaining 4% either had no victim or the victim was a business or organisation.

Of the non-police victims of sexual orientation aggravated hate crime, around half (51%) were aged 25 to 44, with a median age of 30. Most victims were male (86%) and the majority were of a white ethnicity (91%). (Table 7)

Where the victim was non-police, perpetrators had a median age of 35, 80% were male and 20% were female. Where known, 89% were of a white ethnicity.

Where the victim was a police officer, perpetrators had a median age of 33, 87% were male and 13% female. Where known, 98% were of a white ethnicity. (Table 8)

Looking at the prejudice shown by the perpetrator in sexual orientation aggravated hate crimes, where the victim was non-police the clear majority of crimes involved a prejudice towards gay men (80%). A further 15% of crimes involved the perpetrator showing prejudice towards gay women.

Where a police officer was the victim, the prejudice shown was similar, with 85% of prejudice shown towards gay men and 13% towards gay women. (Table 13)

Transgender Identity aggravated hate crime

This section reports on hate crimes that had a transgender identity aggravator attached, including cases where there was more than one aggravator present.

Of the transgender identity aggravated hate crimes which were sampled, 10% had a police officer victim, 85% had a non-police victim and the remaining 4% either had no victim or the victim was a business or organisation.

Of the non-police victims of transgender identity aggravated hate crime, around half (46%) were aged 25 to 44 with a median age of 29. The majority of victims (58%) were female and 92% were of a white ethnicity. (Table 7)

Where the victim was non-police, perpetrators had a median age of 31, 67% were male and 28% were female. Where known, 92% were of a white ethnicity.

Where the victim was a police officer, perpetrators tended to be older, with a median age of 41, all in the sampled cases were male and of a white ethnicity. (Table 8)

Looking at the prejudice shown by the perpetrator in transgender identity aggravated hate crimes, where the victim was non-police the most common prejudice was shown towards transgender (male to female) (49%), a further 22% of crimes involved the perpetrator showing prejudice towards transgender (female to male) and 20% towards the general transgender population.

Where the vicitm was a police officer, the clear majority of crimes (80%) involved a prejudice towards the general transgender population. (Table 14)

Variation in Sex Characteristics aggravated hate crime

As variation in sex characteristics is a new protected characteristic, we looked at all of these aggravated hate crimes. However given the relatively small number recorded in 2024-25 (at 6), no further information has been provided for this report, to ensure no individual can be identified. It can however be noted that those 6 crimes contained a mix of cases with a police officer victim and with a non police victim.

Going forward we will consider if multiple years of data can be combined to provide a larger number of crimes with a variation in sex characteristic aggravator, through which further analysis of their characteristics can be provided.

How to access the background or source data

The following statement(s) indicate the availability of the data which underlie the results of this publication (tick all that apply):

Aggregate data are openly available from the Scottish Government website at be Hate crimes recorded by the police in Scotland, 2024-25 - Supplementary Tables