This report aims to help policymakers, researchers, and community partners make sense of anti-Asian and NHPI hate research and to unpack the complexity of anti-Asian and NHPI hate incidents and crime data.
Report Overview
Discrimination and hate against Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AA and NHPI) communities have been prevalent since the 1880s, and have waxed and waned for different communities each decade. During the past 50 years, key flashpoints have centered around the settlement of refugees from Southeast Asia (1970s), economic competition with Japan (1980s), racial profiling and violent hate incidents after 9/11 (2000s to present), hate experiences exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic (2020s), and ongoing acts of discrimination and hate associated with xenophobia and Islamophobia.
Research and data are key to having a clear understanding of how these developments affect different members of our community, now and into the future. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, a growing body of academic and community research has focused on documenting the extent of anti-Asian and NHPI hate experiences across the United States, yet it is often difficult to navigate the large array of data collected from surveys, community reporting tools, and government agencies. This report aims to help policymakers, researchers, and community partners make sense of anti-Asian and NHPI hate research and to unpack the complexity of anti-Asian and NHPI hate incidents and crime data.
Suggested citation: Connie Tan, Clarielisa Ocampo, and AAPI Data (2025). Making sense of anti-AANHPI hate: A synthesis of evidence from 2020-2024. Berkeley, CA: AAPI Data.
Key Findings
Key findings from the research synthesis of anti-Asian and NHPI hate data from surveys, community reporting tools, and government agencies revealed that:
- Existing data may not tell the full story of anti-Asian and NHPI hate experiences in the U.S.: Variations in terminology and question framing compounded by underreporting and disclosure barriers contribute to the complexity of assessing anti-Asian and NHPI hate experiences.
- Estimates vary by the method of data collection: The extent of anti-Asian and NHPI hate experiences varies depending on how the data are collected (surveys, community reporting tools, or government agency administrative data) and what the data are tracking–hate incidents, hate crimes, or both.
- Definitions matter: Data collection that captures a broader range of hate incidents (e.g., verbal harassment, offensive gestures) tends to show a higher prevalence of hate whereas those focused on hate crimes (e.g., physical assault or property damage) tends to show a lower prevalence of hate. Since 2020:
- Surveys revealed that there were wide variations in findings on AAs and NHPIs experiences with hate, ranging between 16% (hate crimes) to 49% (hate incidents and crimes).
- Community reporting tools documented over 12,000 reports of anti-Asian and NHPI hate incidents and crimes.
- Government agency administrative data recorded over 2,000 cases of anti-Asian and NHPI hate crimes.
- Hate incidents persist: Triangulation of multiple data sources between 2020 and 2024 revealed a notable increase in hate crime reporting in 2021 and this trend has mostly leveled off in subsequent years. Yet anti-Asian and NHPI hate experiences are still pervasive today with AAs and NHPIs reporting frequent encounters with verbal harassment and racial slurs just in the past year.
What Community Leaders Are Saying
Other Resources
Access the accompanying Data Guide on Hate & Discrimination, a user-friendly guide to several data sources highlighted in the report to help foster greater understanding of hate incidents and hate crimes in AANHPI communities. There, you will find a selection of research resources to explore further.
You can also view the Appendix, which provides a summary table of the full research findings for this report here.