Antisemitic incidents in Germany rose by 10 per cent in 2018, with violent assaults up by two thirds from the previous year, according to preliminary data released by German police on Wednesday.

The 1,646 recorded incidents included 62 violent assaults — compared with 37 assaults in 2017.

The figures point to a broader increase in antisemitism in Western Europe, with a 74 per cent surge in incidents in France in 2018 from the previous year and the CST announcing a record rise in incidents in the UK last year.

The German figure, issued at the request of the left-wing Die Linke party, may increase when a fuller report is published in May.

One reason for the rise is the growing popularity of the far-right AfD party, according to Carsten Nickel, managing director of the think tank Teneo, who was quoted by Euronews.

Josef Schuster, head of German Jewry’s Central Council, told the BBC the figures “reflect a tendency - and that’s scary”.

The statistics confirmed what was already a subjective impression among Jews, he said. "Considering that acts below the threshold for criminal liability are not covered, the picture becomes even darker."