The number of reported hate crimes nationally decreased slightly last year despite a surge in such attacks targeting gays and lesbians, according to a report released by the FBI yesterday.

Hawai'i attorney general's office data issued earlier this year also showed the number of reported hate crimes down during the 2007 calendar year. Hawai'i does not contribute data to the FBI study, preferring to compile what the state believes are more comprehensive figures.

The FBI reported more than 7,600 hate crime incidents in 2007, down about 1 percent from the previous year. The decline was driven by decreases in the two largest categories of hate crimes: crimes against race and religion.

But incidents linked to prejudice against sexual orientation, the third-largest category, increased about 6 percent, the report found.

The FBI report does not compare its data from one year to the next because the number of law enforcement agencies participating in the annual count varies from year to year. More agencies contributed to the 2007 report than the 2006 report, however.

The FBI report released yesterday is consistent with previous years. Racial bias remained the most common motive, accounting for more than half of all reported hate crimes.

Blacks, Jews and gays were the most frequent victims of hate crimes, the report found.

The FBI report does not assign a cause for the slight overall decrease or increase in anti-gay hate crimes.

More than a third of all hate crimes were categorized as vandalism or property destruction. Intimidation was the second-most common hate crime, followed by assault.

The report was based on data drawn from 13,241 law enforcement agencies nationwide, covering about 85 percent of the nation's population. By comparison, the broader crime report the FBI puts out every year draws data from about 17,000 law enforcement agencies.

In Hawai'i, the attorney general's office in March reported that there was only one hate crime case reported during 2007, compared with six during 2006. The one case last year involved an incident at an O'ahu parking lot, where a 42-year-old Asian male approached, verbally harassed and physically assaulted an adult Caucasian male. A single, misdemeanor charge of third-degree assault was dismissed without prejudice.

In all, there have been 12 hate crime cases documented in Hawai'i since 2002.