Suspected hate crimes rose seven percent in 2025

Police recorded more than 1,900 suspected hate crimes in 2025, a seven percent increase from the previous year, according to a report by the Police University College, Yle reported.

About 70 percent of the cases reported to police involved prejudice or hostility related to a person’s ethnic or national background. Religion or belief and sexual orientation each accounted for just under one tenth of the cases, while disability was involved in more than eight percent.

Suspected crimes linked to ethnic or national background rose nine percent. The report said they most often involved members of the majority population expressing prejudice or hostility towards people from minority groups. Such incidents commonly took place outdoors in public, for example on a street. Other frequent locations included the internet, schools or school grounds, and the yard or stairwell of a victim’s home.

Men were victims in 60 percent of the cases and women in 40 percent. Suspected assaults were most common against men, while suspected defamation was more common against women.

Reports of suspected hate crimes related to religion or belief increased by a fifth. Muslims were the most frequent targets, and about a quarter of these cases involved suspected defamation. Such crimes most often took place online.

The report said international conflicts, social polarisation, online hate speech and disinformation continued to affect the climate around hate crimes in 2025. It said the impact of individual events on the number of hate crimes was difficult to assess, but pointed to Russia’s war in Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East as examples. It also noted concerns across several European countries that tensions linked to international conflicts could contribute to antisemitism, anti-Muslim hostility and other prejudice-based hate speech, harassment and discrimination.