US law enforcement agencies recorded 189 anti-Sikh and 32 anti-Hindu hate crime offences in 2025, according to newly released data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) — figures that carry particular weight for Indian-origin communities in America, even as the FBI provides no separate count for crimes targeting Indian Americans as a distinct group.

Key Figures from the FBI Report

The data, drawn from the FBI's Reported Crimes in the Nation statistics, show that law enforcement agencies across the United States reported 2,703 single-bias religious hate crime offences during the year. Anti-Sikh bias accounted for 7 per cent of those offences — approximately 189 cases. Anti-Hindu bias represented 1.2 per cent, or around 32 offences.

In terms of victims, of 2,798 individuals targeted in anti-religious hate crimes, 6.9 per cent — approximately 193 — were victims of anti-Sikh bias. Anti-Hindu bias accounted for 1.2 per cent, representing 34 victims. The divergence between offence counts and victim counts reflects the fact that a single incident can involve multiple offences or affect more than one person.

Anti-Jewish Bias Leads Religious Hate Crimes

Anti-Jewish bias remained the dominant driver of religious hate crimes, accounting for 62.3 per cent of all such offences — the largest share by far. Anti-Islamic or anti-Muslim bias followed at 9.6 per cent, with anti-Sikh bias ranking third at 7 per cent.

Where Indian Americans Fit — and Where They Don't

The FBI report does not classify Indian Americans as a separate racial or ethnic group. Victims of Indian origin could have been recorded under anti-Asian, anti-Hindu, anti-Sikh, or other bias categories, depending on how local authorities classified each incident. As a result, it is not possible to determine from the national summary how many Indian Americans were hate crime victims in 2025.

On the racial and ethnic front, the FBI recorded 7,200 single-bias hate crime offences motivated by race, ethnicity, or ancestry. Anti-Asian bias accounted for 5.8 per cent of those — approximately 418 offences. Among 7,427 victims in this category, 5.9 per cent, or roughly 438, were targeted due to anti-Asian bias. The report does not break this down by national origin.

Overall Hate Crime Trends in 2025

Across all bias categories, agencies reported 10,881 hate crime incidents involving 13,026 offences in 2025, with 13,438 victims and 9,509 known offenders. This marks a decline of approximately 6.8 per cent from the 11,679 incidents reported in 2024. Offences dropped from 13,683 to 13,026, while the victim count fell from 14,243 to 13,438.

Of all single-bias offences, 57.3 per cent were motivated by race, ethnicity, or ancestry; religious bias accounted for 21.5 per cent; and sexual orientation bias for 14.6 per cent. About 66.6 per cent of all hate crime offences were crimes against people, with intimidation (43.1 per cent) and simple assault (35.8 per cent) the most common forms. Property crimes — primarily destruction, damage, or vandalism (73.3 per cent) — made up 31.5 per cent of offences.

The FBI's hate crime data collection drew information from 16,791 law enforcement agencies covering 95.3 per cent of the US population, with 3,067 agencies reporting at least one hate crime incident. Notably, the published national summary does not provide separate 2024 figures for anti-Sikh, anti-Hindu, or anti-Asian offences, making a direct year-to-year comparison for these communities impossible from the available data.

As advocacy groups continue to call for more granular federal tracking of hate crimes against South Asian communities, the FBI's next reporting cycle will be closely watched for any methodological changes.