Some 676 hate crimes and hate-related incidents were reported to gardaí in 2024 compared with 651 the previous year, according to garda figures.
But the force said hate-related crime is still under-reported in Ireland.
Race remained the most prevalent discriminatory motive, up from 36% in 2023 to 39% last year.
Discrimination on the basis of nationality accounted for a quarter of all cases in 2024. The figure was 18% the previous year.
There was a decrease in discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation from 109 incidents in 2023 to 70 last year.
In its report, An Garda Síochána's analysis service noted that "murder threats to kill or cause serious harm" accounted for 27 cases.
As was the case in the previous three years, just under half of all hate-related incidents in 2024 occurred in the Dublin region.
18% were in the eastern garda district, 17% in southern region and 16% in the northwestern division.
These figures were also down when compared with 2023.
Prison sentences for certain crimes motivated by hatred were increased last year.
Helen McEntee - who was minister for justice when the legislation came into force - said Ireland had been "one of the few remaining EU countries not to have specific hate crime offences set out in law".
In a statement, An Garda Síochána said that it "continues in its efforts to strengthen its network of diversity officers to support victims and those affected by hate discrimination in communities around Ireland".
Five hundred diversity officers across the country "engage with minority communities and individuals on a daily basis to provide them with reassurance and address issues of concern for them", the statement added.
Chief Superintendent for Community Engagement Padraic Jones said: "While these figures do indicate a further increase in the number of people that come forward ... and report an incident of crime which was motivated by hate, we recognise that hate-related crime is still under-reported in Ireland.
"When a person or group is targeted because of a fundamental characteristic it is a stain on all of society.
"Together we must continue to reject hate and discrimination and consistently remind one another that everyone has a right to live safely and free from prejudice.
"Incidents of this nature are not and never will be acceptable.
Chief Supt Jones encouraged anyone who "has experienced an incident of crime which has been motivated by hate" to report their experience, saying that gardaí will support them "in any way that we can".
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Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Chief Supt Jones said anti-race sentiment is the main cause of hate crime that is reported in the country, followed "very closely" by nationality and sexual orientation.
He said that hate crime is under reported and he urged people to continue to report it and have faith in the guards to investigate it properly.
"We hope and encourage that we can convince people to continue to report to us and have faith in the gardaí to progress those investigations and support those people that make reports to us."
He wanted to dispel the myth that hate crime is something "high level".
Instead, it is the lived experience for many people, usually people who come from diverse minority background to Ireland to contribute to our workforce and community, he said.
"I suppose even at its simplest, you would hope and expect that people would treat others the way they'd like to be treated themselves."
