One in three people from ethnic minorities have been physically or verbally abused by racists.
A major study said the UK has “strikingly high” levels of abuse after finding widespread discrimination in the workplace, education, housing and dealings with police.
More than 25% of those from ethnic and religious minorities faced racial insults, with almost one in three targeted in a public place.
One in six reported racism from neighbours, while the homes of 17% had been damaged.
It challenges 2021’s No10-commissioned Sewell report, which found the UK does not have a systemic problem with racism.
In the new study a sixth said they had been physically assaulted prior to the coronavirus pandemic.
The figure rose to one in five Jewish people and over a third with Gypsy, Traveller and Roma heritage.
Nissa Finney, professor of human geography at St Andrews, was lead researcher in the study that took two years to compile.
She said: “The UK is immeasurably far from being a racially just society.”
More than 14,000 people from 21 groups joined the study Racism and Ethnic Inequality in a Time of Crisis between February and October 2021.
It was also carried out by King’s College London and the University of Manchester.
The Economic and Social Research Council-funded poll found 29% faced discrimination in education and at work.
Almost a fifth reported the same over searches for housing.
Discrimination in dealings with police was reported by more than a fifth but this soared to 43% among black Caribbean groups.
Halima Begum, chief of think-tank the Runnymede Trust, told the Guardian that data on violence was “incredibly concerning”.
She added: “Sadly, few ethnic minority Britons will be surprised by the findings.”
