Scotland's senior prosecutor has pledged that a rising tide of hate crime will not be tolerated.
Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC pledged to protect the public from "hate-fuelled offences".
The latest Crown Office figures show that while racist offences, the largest category for hate crimes, decreased, offences involving discrimination due to religion, gender, sexuality and disability all rose.
More charges than ever before were laid against suspects targeting disabled people because of their condition.
The 3% increase in 2022/23 to 722 was the highest recorded since current discrimination laws were passed in 2010.
Charges for offences aggravated by a victim’s sexual orientation also rose to 1,884, up 2% from the year before, and continuing its steady climb since 2014/15.
Dorothy Bain KC, the Lord Advocate, said: “We will not tolerate crime which damages the fundamental right of an individual to be exactly the person they are.
“As prosecutors, we take very seriously our responsibility to protect victims and members of the public from these hate-fuelled offences.”
Overall, the number of charges reported containing at least one element of hate crime was 5,738 in 2022/23, which is 2% down on the year before.
While the majority of hate crime has an element of racism, the proportion of charges aggravated by race has been falling over the last decade from 74% in 2013/14 to 55% in 2022/23.
The 3,145 charges related to race reported in 2022/23 represented a fall of 2% on the year before.
It is also 31% lower than the high in 2011/12 when there were 4,547 racist charges.
The proportion of charges containing prejudice which related to sexual orientation has increased from 16% to 33% over the same period.
The 576 charges of religious discrimination and sectariansim in 2022/23 represented an 8% increase on last year.
The proportion of charges relating to transgender identity was 1%.
The 55 reports of anti-trans offences were the second highest on record, with 86 charges in 2021-22 the peak. Between 2016/17 and 2020/21 the number of charges fluctuated between 40 and 52.
The proportion of hate crime reports connected to disability was 13% for 2022-23, while religious aggravation accounted for 10% of the charges.
The figures relate to the number of charges reported rather than the number of people charged, the Crown Office said, with some suspects facing multiple charges.
Justice Secretary Angela Constance said: “Hate crime has hugely damaging effects on victims, their families and the wider community and we must all play our part to challenge it.
“These latest figures show that we all must redouble efforts to tackle hatred and prejudice in Scotland.”
The figures were released as part of the Crown Office’s annual Hate Crime in Scotland report.
The characteristics protected by law are race, religion, disability, sexual orientation and gender identity.
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