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The three largest ancestries in Regional NSW in 2021 were English, Australian and Irish.

Ancestry defines the cultural association and ethnic background of an individual going back three generations. Ancestry is a good measure of the total size of cultural groups in Regional NSW regardless of where they were born or what language they speak.

Ancestry data, should be combined with data on Birthplace, Language Spoken at Home and Religion for a more complete picture of Regional NSW's ethnic characteristics.

Please note that the "Australian Aboriginal" and "Torres Strait Islander" categories in this topic are not directly comparable from 2021 to previous years, due to a change in the wording of the question. In 2021, these options were marked boxes on the question rather than write-in options. The "Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Origin" question is still considered a more reliable count for this group, and can be found on the Population summary page.

Please note: Due to changes in ABS rules around perturbation and additivity of data to protect the confidentiality of individuals, counts of ancestry groups and totals derived from them may differ slightly from those published by the ABS. For more information see notes on data confidentiality.

Q:

Derived from the Census question:

'What is the person's ancestry?'

Multi-response

Ancestry - Totals
Regional NSW - Total persons (Usual residence)20212001Change
Ancestry totalsNumber%Northern Territory %Number%Northern Territory %2001 to 2021
Not stated197,1315.28.2161,8336.18.5+35,298
Total responses3,803,048----2,634,186----+1,168,862
Total people2,829,639----2,321,541----+508,098
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2001 and 2021. Compiled and presented by .id (informed decisions).
Please refer to specific data notes for more information
Ancestry - Ranked by size
Regional NSW - Total persons (Usual residence)20212001Change
AncestryNumber%Northern Territory %Number%Northern Territory %2001 to 2021
English1,157,56740.923.1864,37637.224.2+293,191
Australian1,137,04040.224.11,077,76446.432.4+59,276
Irish333,42511.87.3250,92410.88.7+82,501
Scottish303,92510.76.364,2942.82.3+239,631
Australian Aboriginal172,7376.124.59,3290.419.1+163,408
German119,3144.23.681,9863.54.0+37,328
Italian77,9612.81.950,9922.21.7+26,969
Dutch38,2551.41.125,6561.11.2+12,599
Chinese28,7171.03.013,4420.62.2+15,275
Indian23,7920.82.25,5920.20.4+18,200
Show all (130 entries)

Excludes ancestries with fewer than 10 responses (multi-response).

Dominant groups

Analysis of the ancestry responses of the population in Regional NSW in 2021 shows that the top five ancestries nominated were:

  • English (1,157,567 people or 40.9%)
  • Australian (1,137,040 people or 40.2%)
  • Irish (333,425 people or 11.8%)
  • Scottish (303,925 people or 10.7%)
  • Australian Aboriginal (172,737 people or 6.1%)

In combination these five ancestries account for 3,104,694 responses in total, or 109.72% of all responses.

The major differences between the ancestries of the population in Regional NSW and Northern Territory were:

  • A larger percentage of people with English ancestry (40.9% compared to 23.1%)
  • A larger percentage of people with Australian ancestry (40.2% compared to 24.1%)
  • A larger percentage of people with Irish ancestry (11.8% compared to 7.3%)
  • A smaller percentage of people with Australian Aboriginal ancestry (6.1% compared to 24.5%)

Emerging groups

The largest changes in the reported ancestries of the population in this area between 2001 and 2021 were:

  • English (+293,191 persons)
  • Scottish (+239,631 persons)
  • Australian Aboriginal (+163,408 persons)
  • Irish (+82,501 persons)

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