Racist incidents in the Grampian area rose by 8% over the last year, the Press and Journal can reveal.
Grampian Racial Equality Council (GREC), which released the figures, pointed to a rise in ethnic minorities moving to the north-east for the increase.
A total of 574 racist incidents, including physical and verbal abuse, were recorded between April 2008 and March this year, compared to 531 in the previous 12 months.
The biggest increase was in incidents involving people from the EU accession states, which include Poland, Hungary, Estonia and the Czech Republic, which shot up by 40% from 48 to 69.
Asians were the most commonly targeted group, with 152 incidents reported in the last year, a rise of 11%.
A 15% rise in incidents involving black people, from 89 to 106, was also recorded.
Reported racist incidents against English people fell from 60 to 57, however.
GREC director Jeannie Felsinger said those who were visibly non-white were most likely to be abused in Aberdeen city centre.
Non-British white people were meanwhile targeted more frequently in rural areas.
She said the figures were consistent with other areas of the UK and she did not see Grampian as a hot-spot for racism, however.
She added: “Even compared to this time last year there are greater numbers of people from ethnically diverse backgrounds moving here, due to Aberdeen being the oil capital of Europe and having two universities.
“The rise in recorded incidents, in our view, shows a greater confidence in victims coming forward.”
GREC collates its figures by adding all the reports it receives directly with incidents recorded by police.
Police say around a third of all racist incidents in the Grampian area happen in or near licensed premises, and alcohol is often a factor.
Grampian Police temporary Chief Inspector Janice Innes said: “There is always work that needs to be done to improve people’s attitudes towards race.
“We have worked to raise the confidence of ethnic minorities in approaching the police about racist incidents.
“Our next consideration will be to educate young people, who could be potential victims or perpetrators of racism, by working with north-east schools.”
GREC ran a poster campaign with Grampian Police and north-east pubs and clubs that encouraged people to report racist incidents.