United States: Hate Crimes Surged By 11.6 Per Cent In 2021, Says FBI

There was an 11.6% surge in hate crimes in the U.S. in 2021 compared to 2020, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said on Monday.

The FBI in the new report said reported hate crime incidents rose to 9,065 in 2021 from 8,120 in 2020.

The bureau added that 64.5% of victims in 2021 were targeted because of their race, ethnicity or ancestry bias.

While 15.9% were targeted because of sexual-orientation bias and 14.1% were targeted because of religious bias.

The release of the FBI's new analysis marks the first time the bureau has been able to confidently report on hate crimes since it transitioned to a new data collection system.

Crime data released by the FBI in October 2022 contained gaps, with only 52% of U.S. law enforcement agencies reporting a full 12 months of 2021 information.

FBI officials said they were now able to retroactively include crime data from some of the country's largest cities.

That meant that some large cities as Los Angeles and New York City are now included in its hate crime report.