Almost half of people of African descent in Europe experienced discrimination, according to the survey results released by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) on Wednesday.
"Overall, almost half of the respondents (47 %) felt discriminated against in at least one area of life on any ground in the 5 years preceding the survey and more than a third (36 %) did so in the year before the survey," the FRA said.
Skin color and ethnic or immigrant background were the causes of 38% and 30%, respectively, of discrimination cases in the five years prior to the survey.
In 2022, 45% of respondents said they experienced racial discrimination, which is discrimination on the ground of skin color, ethnicity, or religion, as the FRA put it, which is 6 percentage points more than in 2016.
"It is a shameful acknowledgement to say that racism remains pervasive and relentless," FRA Director Michael O’Flaherty said.
The highest level of discrimination was registered in Germany and Austria – 77% and 76%, respectively, in the five years before the survey, while people in Portugal, Poland and Sweden faced the lowest level – 27%, 21% and 27%, respectively.
The survey was conducted among 6,752 immigrants and their descendants of African origin in 13 EU member states.
The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) is an advisor for EU institutions and national governments on fundamental rights.