The number of hate crimes reported to police has more than doubled since 2013, according to government figures, which also showed a large increase last year in offences against people based on sexual orientation.

The majority of hate crime offences recorded by police forces in England and Wales were racial – 78,991 – which increased by 11% in the past year. Transgender identity hate crimes – the least commonly recorded hate crime in 42 of 44 forces – increased by 37% to 2,333 last year. The Home Office figures also recorded a 25% rise in offences linked to sexual orientation (14,491) while disability hate crimes rose by 14% to 8,256.

The steady rise in recent years is partly because of improvements in crime recording, but there were spikes after events such as the referendum on Britain’s EU membership and terrorist attacks in 2017. Part of the increase over the last year may reflect “a real rise” in hate crimes, the Home Office said.

Just under half (47%) of religious hate crime offences were targeted against Muslim people (3,530 offences), a similar proportion to last year.

The increases in hate crime against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people may have been caused by higher confidence in reporting, according to the charity Stonewall, but it also said the figures were likely to represent a tip of an iceberg.

Laura Russell, Stonewall’s director of campaigns, policy and research, said: “From our research into hate crime, we know that four in five anti-LGBT hate crimes go unreported, with younger people particularly reluctant to go to the police.

“We have long been concerned about the impact debates on LGBT-inclusive education and trans equality in the media, online and in the streets would have on our community. The significant rise in hate crimes against trans people shows the consequences of a society where transphobia is everywhere.” Read more via Guardian