Racism against blacks increases in Europe, with Germany, Austria and Finland experience the highest rates of discrimination and harassment, according to a survey of first- and second-generation black migrants in 13 EU countries released today.

The European Union’s Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), which commissioned the research and analyzed its findings in a report, said that in the six years since the previous study, the proportion of those who felt they faced racial discrimination against in the last 12 months it has increased by 10 percentage points to 34%.

In Austria and Germany the figure was 64% – almost double the previous level of 33% in Germany and up significantly from the 42% recorded six years earlier in Austria. In the next worst position is Finland with 54%.

“It is shocking to find that there is no improvement from our previous survey,” said FRA Director Michael O’Flaherty. “In contrast, people of African descent face even more discrimination just because of the color of their skin.”

The proportion of respondents who reported feeling racially discriminated against in the past five years, rather than the past 12 months, rose to 45% in the 13 countries surveyed, a six-point increase from the previous study. The three countries at the top of the list remained the same, with Germany having the highest percentage at 76%.

The poll conducted by Ipsos for FRA was a sweeping survey of 16,124 immigrants and descendants of immigrants in 15 countries, from which several FRA reports – on other ethnic minorities and on Muslims – will be produced. It was held from October 2021 to September 2022.

This report entitled “Being Black in the EU” is the first to be produced from this wider research. It focuses on 6,752 people born in sub-Saharan Africa or with at least one parent born there, who live in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.

The proportion of respondents who said they had experienced racial harassment in the past five years was the same as six years earlier, at 30%. The highest national rate was 54% in Germany, followed by Finland and Austria.

Portugal and Sweden were the countries with the lowest rates of harassment and, along with Poland, had the lowest rates of racial discrimination, according to survey respondents.

The FRA report includes a number of recommendations to EU member states, such as to properly implement anti-discrimination legislation and to address racially biased motivations as aggravating circumstances when sentencing for crimes.