Greater Hobart
Religion
In Greater Hobart in 2016, the largest religious group was Anglican (19.8% of all people), while 40.3% of people had no religion and 8.8% did not answer the question on religion.
Greater Hobart'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.
Greater Hobart'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 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greater Hobart - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2016 | 2011 | Change | |||||
| Religion totals | Number | % | Greater Brisbane % | Number | % | Greater Brisbane % | 2011 to 2016 | |
| Christian total | 105,121 | 47.3 | 53.6 | 35500 | 124,218 | 58.7 | 62.8 | -19,097 |
| Non Christian total | 6,506 | 2.9 | 6.0 | 35501 | 5,091 | 2.4 | 5.2 | +1,415 |
| Non-classifiable religious belief | 1,508 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 35502 | 1,982 | 0.9 | 0.8 | -474 |
| No Religion/secular beliefs | 89,607 | 40.3 | 31.0 | 35503 | 62,153 | 29.4 | 22.8 | +27,454 |
| Not stated | 19,616 | 8.8 | 8.7 | 35504 | 18,227 | 8.6 | 8.3 | +1,389 |
| Total Population | 222,358 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 211,671 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +10,687 | |
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing (opens a new window) 2011 and 2016. Compiled and presented by .id (opens a new window)(informed decisions).
(Usual residence data)
| Religion - Ranked by size | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greater Hobart - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2016 | 2011 | Change | |||||
| Religion | Number | % | Greater Brisbane % | Number | % | Greater Brisbane % | 2011 to 2016 | |
| Anglican | 43,979 | 19.8 | 13.3 | 35000 | 55,470 | 26.2 | 17.1 | -11,491 |
| Western (Roman) Catholic | 37,861 | 17.0 | 21.4 | 35044 | 42,848 | 20.2 | 24.1 | -4,987 |
| Uniting Church | 5,656 | 2.5 | 4.6 | 35043 | 7,222 | 3.4 | 6.0 | -1,566 |
| Christian,nfd | 4,226 | 1.9 | 3.1 | 35011 | 4,052 | 1.9 | 2.8 | +174 |
| Presbyterian and Reformed | 3,391 | 1.5 | 2.6 | 35036 | 4,034 | 1.9 | 3.2 | -643 |
| Buddhism | 2,032 | 0.9 | 2.0 | 35008 | 1,823 | 0.9 | 2.0 | +209 |
| Pentecostal | 2,021 | 0.9 | 1.5 | 35033 | 1,912 | 0.9 | 1.6 | +109 |
| Baptist | 1,698 | 0.8 | 2.2 | 35006 | 1,960 | 0.9 | 2.3 | -262 |
| Hinduism | 1,627 | 0.7 | 1.5 | 35016 | 895 | 0.4 | 1.0 | +732 |
| Islam | 1,549 | 0.7 | 1.5 | 35017 | 1,152 | 0.5 | 1.2 | +397 |
| Greek Orthodox | 1,502 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 35015 | 1,465 | 0.7 | 0.8 | +37 |
| Other Protestant | 825 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 35034 | 315 | 0.1 | 0.3 | +510 |
| Jehova's Witnesses | 625 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 35018 | 703 | 0.3 | 0.5 | -78 |
| Latter Day Saints (Mormons) | 622 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 35020 | 649 | 0.3 | 0.6 | -27 |
| Lutheran | 605 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 35021 | 955 | 0.5 | 1.7 | -350 |
| Salvation Army | 508 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 35038 | 639 | 0.3 | 0.3 | -131 |
| Seventh Day Adventist | 387 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 35040 | 453 | 0.2 | 0.4 | -66 |
| Sikhism | 382 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 35041 | 157 | 0.1 | 0.3 | +225 |
| Other Christian | 302 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 35027 | 362 | 0.2 | 0.2 | -60 |
| Churches of Christ | 284 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35013 | 368 | 0.2 | 0.2 | -84 |
| Brethren | 274 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35007 | 336 | 0.2 | 0.1 | -62 |
| Paganism | 202 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35035 | 209 | 0.1 | 0.1 | -7 |
| Judaism | 133 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35019 | 152 | 0.1 | 0.1 | -19 |
| Other Non-Christian Religions | 124 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35031 | 144 | 0.1 | 0.1 | -20 |
| Other Oriental Orthodox | 117 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35032 | 152 | 0.1 | 0.0 | -35 |
| Baha'i | 114 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35005 | 180 | 0.1 | 0.1 | -66 |
| Other Nature Religions | 105 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35030 | 138 | 0.1 | 0.1 | -33 |
| Serbian Orthodox | 85 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 35039 | 77 | 0.0 | 0.1 | +8 |
| Chinese and Japanese Religions | 78 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35009 | 74 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +4 |
| Wiccan/Witchcraft | 76 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35045 | 95 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -19 |
| Russian Orthodox | 75 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 35037 | 95 | 0.0 | 0.1 | -20 |
| Spiritualism | 72 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 35042 | 66 | 0.0 | 0.1 | +6 |
| Christadelphian | 27 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 35010 | 28 | 0.0 | 0.1 | -1 |
| Australian Aboriginal Traditional Religions | 27 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35004 | 6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +21 |
| Other Eastern Orthodox | 17 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35029 | 76 | 0.0 | 0.1 | -59 |
| Coptic Orthodox | 11 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35014 | 13 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -2 |
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Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing (opens a new window) 2011 and 2016. 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 Greater Hobart in 2016 compared to Greater Brisbane shows that there was a lower proportion of people who professed a religion and a higher proportion who stated they had no religion.
Overall, 50.2% of the population nominated a religion, and 40.3% said they had no religion, compared with 59.6% and 31.0% respectively for Greater Brisbane.
The largest single religion in Greater Hobart was Anglican, with 19.8% of the population or 43,979 people as adherents.
The major differences between the religious affiliation for the population of Greater Hobart and Greater Brisbane were:
- A larger percentage who nominated Anglican (19.8% compared to 13.3%)
- A smaller percentage who nominated Western (Roman) Catholic (17.0% compared to 21.4%)
- A smaller percentage who nominated Uniting Church (2.5% compared to 4.6%)
- A smaller percentage who nominated Baptist (0.8% compared to 2.2%)
Emerging groups
The largest changes in the religious affiliation of the population in Greater Hobart between 2011 and 2016 were for those who nominated:
- Anglican (-11,491 persons)
- Western (Roman) Catholic (-4,987 persons)
- Uniting Church (-1,566 persons)
- Hinduism (+732 persons)