Western Australia
Religion
In Western Australia in 2021, the largest religious group was Western (Roman) Catholic (18.6% of all people), while 42.8% of people had no religion and 7.5% did not answer the question on religion.
Western Australia's religion statistics provide an indicator of cultural identity and ethnicity when observed in conjunction with other key variables. Religion data reveal the major concentrations of religions as well as revealing the proportion of people with no religious affiliation. There are a number of reasons for different religious compositions across areas including the country of birth and ethnic background of the population, the age of the population (belief in religion is generally stronger, the older the population) and changes in values and belief systems.
Western Australia's religion statistics should be analysed in conjunction with other ethnicity statistics such as Country of Birth data and Language Spoken data to assist in identifying specific cultural and ethnic groups.
Please note: Due to changes in ABS rules around perturbation and additivity of data to protect the confidentiality of individuals, counts of individual religion groups and totals derived from them may differ slightly from those published by the ABS.
Derived from the Census question:
'What is the person's religion?'
Total population
| Religion - Summary | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Western Australia - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2021 | 1991 | Change | |||||
| Religion totals | Number | % | South Australia % | Number | % | South Australia % | 1991 to 2021 | |
| Christian total | 1,093,729 | 41.1 | 40.0 | 35500 | 1,099,601 | 69.8 | 70.4 | -5,872 |
| Non Christian total | 212,560 | 8.0 | 7.8 | 35501 | 32,770 | 2.1 | 1.3 | +179,790 |
| Non-classifiable religious belief | 16,040 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 35502 | 5,990 | 0.4 | 0.3 | +10,050 |
| No Religion/secular beliefs | 1,137,482 | 42.8 | 45.6 | 35503 | 269,316 | 17.1 | 17.3 | +868,166 |
| Not stated | 200,210 | 7.5 | 6.0 | 35504 | 168,467 | 10.7 | 10.7 | +31,743 |
| Total Population | 2,660,021 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 1,576,144 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +1,083,877 | |
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing (opens a new window) 1991 and 2021. Compiled and presented by .id (opens a new window)(informed decisions).
(Usual residence data)
| Religion - Ranked by size | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Western Australia - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2021 | 1991 | Change | |||||
| Religion | Number | % | South Australia % | Number | % | South Australia % | 1991 to 2021 | |
| Western (Roman) Catholic | 495,423 | 18.6 | 15.4 | 35044 | 406,570 | 25.8 | 20.9 | +88,853 |
| Anglican | 269,583 | 10.1 | 7.2 | 35000 | 416,668 | 26.4 | 18.0 | -147,085 |
| Christian,nfd | 89,919 | 3.4 | 2.6 | 35011 | 20,348 | 1.3 | 0.9 | +69,571 |
| Islam | 66,764 | 2.5 | 2.3 | 35017 | 8,048 | 0.5 | 0.2 | +58,716 |
| Buddhism | 57,622 | 2.2 | 1.9 | 35008 | 13,139 | 0.8 | 0.6 | +44,483 |
| Hinduism | 52,055 | 2.0 | 2.1 | 35016 | 2,244 | 0.1 | 0.1 | +49,811 |
| Baptist | 42,600 | 1.6 | 1.5 | 35006 | 25,750 | 1.6 | 2.0 | +16,850 |
| Uniting Church | 42,526 | 1.6 | 4.8 | 35043 | 91,884 | 5.8 | 14.4 | -49,358 |
| Presbyterian and Reformed | 34,549 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 35036 | 47,328 | 3.0 | 2.0 | -12,779 |
| Pentecostal | 27,463 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 35033 | 12,076 | 0.8 | 1.4 | +15,387 |
| Sikhism | 18,583 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 35041 | 615 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +17,968 |
| Other Protestant | 16,220 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 35034 | 4,094 | 0.3 | 0.1 | +12,126 |
| Greek Orthodox | 13,936 | 0.5 | 2.0 | 35015 | 12,363 | 0.8 | 2.5 | +1,573 |
| Jehova's Witnesses | 11,136 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 35018 | 9,756 | 0.6 | 0.5 | +1,380 |
| Churches of Christ | 7,245 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 35013 | 13,277 | 0.8 | 0.8 | -6,032 |
| Seventh Day Adventist | 7,036 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 35040 | 5,087 | 0.3 | 0.2 | +1,949 |
| Lutheran | 6,315 | 0.2 | 2.4 | 35021 | 11,243 | 0.7 | 5.1 | -4,928 |
| Latter Day Saints (Mormons) | 5,951 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 35020 | 4,648 | 0.3 | 0.2 | +1,303 |
| Judaism | 5,669 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 35019 | 4,283 | 0.3 | 0.1 | +1,386 |
| Macedonian Orthodox | 4,685 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 35022 | 3,787 | 0.2 | 0.0 | +898 |
| Serbian Orthodox | 4,371 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 35039 | 1,248 | 0.1 | 0.1 | +3,123 |
| Salvation Army | 3,035 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 35038 | 6,739 | 0.4 | 0.5 | -3,704 |
| Other Non-Christian Religions | 2,636 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 35031 | 1,576 | 0.1 | 0.1 | +1,060 |
| Baha'i | 2,373 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35005 | 1,187 | 0.1 | 0.1 | +1,186 |
| Other Christian | 2,319 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35027 | 1,568 | 0.1 | 0.1 | +751 |
| Paganism | 2,053 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35035 | 0 | 0.0 | -- | +2,053 |
| Other Oriental Orthodox | 1,971 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35032 | 67 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +1,904 |
| Brethren | 1,839 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 35007 | 1,871 | 0.1 | 0.1 | -32 |
| Russian Orthodox | 1,314 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 35037 | 467 | 0.0 | 0.1 | +847 |
| Other Eastern Catholic | 1,300 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 35028 | 0 | 0.0 | -- | +1,300 |
| Coptic Orthodox | 1,256 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35014 | 194 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +1,062 |
| Spiritualism | 1,251 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35042 | 691 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +560 |
| Australian Aboriginal Traditional Religions | 1,096 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35004 | 987 | 0.1 | 0.0 | +109 |
| Wiccan/Witchcraft | 925 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35045 | 0 | 0.0 | -- | +925 |
| Chinese and Japanese Religions | 838 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35009 | 0 | 0.0 | -- | +838 |
| Christadelphian | 775 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 35010 | 749 | 0.0 | 0.2 | +26 |
| Other Eastern Orthodox | 698 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 35029 | 1,610 | 0.1 | 0.1 | -912 |
| Other Nature Religions | 695 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35030 | 0 | 0.0 | -- | +695 |
| Maronite Catholic | 123 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35023 | 0 | 0.0 | -- | +123 |
| Armenian Apostolic | 101 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35001 | 84 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +17 |
| Assyrian Apostolic | 40 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35003 | 125 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -85 |
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Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing (opens a new window) 1991 and 2021. Compiled and presented by .id (opens a new window)(informed decisions).
Excludes religions with fewer than 10 adherents.
Compiled and presented in profile.id by .id (informed decisions).
Compiled and presented in profile.id by .id (informed decisions).
Dominant groups
Analysis of the religious affiliation of the population of Western Australia in 2021 compared to South Australia shows that there was a higher proportion of people who professed a religion and a lower proportion who stated they had no religion.
Overall, 49.1% of the population nominated a religion, and 42.8% said they had no religion, compared with 47.8% and 45.6% respectively for South Australia.
The largest single religion in Western Australia was Western (Roman) Catholic, with 18.6% of the population or 495,423 people as adherents.
The major differences between the religious affiliation for the population of Western Australia and South Australia were:
- A larger percentage who nominated Western (Roman) Catholic (18.6% compared to 15.4%)
- A larger percentage who nominated Anglican (10.1% compared to 7.2%)
- A smaller percentage who nominated Uniting Church (1.6% compared to 4.8%)
- A smaller percentage who nominated Lutheran (0.2% compared to 2.4%)
Emerging groups
The largest changes in the religious affiliation of the population in Western Australia between 1991 and 2021 were for those who nominated:
- Anglican (-147,085 persons)
- Western (Roman) Catholic (+88,853 persons)
- Christian,nfd (+69,571 persons)
- Islam (+58,716 persons)