Jews suffered the highest rate of religious hate crimes in England and Wales in the year ending March 2025, UK interior ministry data showed on Thursday.

Muslims experienced the highest absolute number of such crimes, but they make up a larger proportion of the population, so the per capita rate is lower.

A total of 2,873 religious hate crimes were recorded against victims perceived to be Jewish, equivalent to 106 crimes per 10,000 Jews. For people perceived to be Muslim, the total was 4,478, or 12 per 10,000 Muslims.

An attack against a synagogue in Manchester on Yom Kippur last week caused the deaths of two Jewish men. Separately, a fire at a mosque was being treated as a possible arson attack.

The data showed a spike in offenses against Muslims after the murder of three young girls at a dance event in Southport in July 2024 that sparked mass anti-Islam and anti-immigration protests.

“Today’s hate crime statistics show that too many people are living in fear because of who they are, what they believe, or where they come from,” said Britain’s interior minister Shabana Mahmood.

“I will not tolerate British people being targeted simply because of their religion, race, or identity,” she said, noting police patrols have been stepped up at synagogues and mosques since last week.

Thursday’s data was skewed by the exclusion of crimes recorded by police in London due to a change in its methodology designed to prevent overcounting.

As a result, Thursday’s figures were not directly comparable to previous years, but were broadly consistent with a pattern of increased religious hate crimes in Britain.

Antisemitism has spiked worldwide in the two years since the Hamas terror group’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel set off the war in Gaza.