We document the following; First, hate crimes against East Asians increased from as soon
as early February 2020 and the higher levels of hate crimes against this group persisted
until November 2020. Second, racial hate crimes against other groups did not increase until
the end of the first national lockdown in June 2020 and remained elevated until autumn
2020. On the other hand the control crimes decreased during the first national lockdown due
to reduced mobility. Third, we find evidence that hate crimes against East Asians increased …

We provide evidence of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on racial hate crime in
England and Wales. Using various data sources, including unique data collected through
Freedom of Information (FOI) requests from UK police forces, a difference-in-difference and
event study approaches, we find that racial hate crime against East Asians increased by 70-
100%, beginning in early February and persisted until November 2020. This effect was
greatest in weeks leading up to the first national lockdown in the UK. The shock was then …