Greater Hobart
Religion
In Greater Hobart in 2021, the largest religious group was Anglican (14.1% of all people), while 50.2% of people had no religion and 5.9% 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) | 2021 | 2006 | Change | |||||
| Religion totals | Number | % | Tasmania % | Number | % | Tasmania % | 2006 to 2021 | |
| Christian total | 91,629 | 37.1 | 38.4 | 35500 | 128,684 | 63.8 | 64.3 | -37,055 |
| Non Christian total | 15,452 | 6.3 | 4.5 | 35501 | 3,592 | 1.8 | 1.4 | +11,860 |
| Non-classifiable religious belief | 1,344 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 35502 | 1,565 | 0.8 | 0.7 | -221 |
| No Religion/secular beliefs | 124,094 | 50.2 | 49.9 | 35503 | 43,605 | 21.6 | 21.5 | +80,489 |
| Not stated | 14,543 | 5.9 | 6.7 | 35504 | 24,240 | 12.0 | 12.2 | -9,697 |
| Total Population | 247,062 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 201,686 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +45,376 | |
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing (opens a new window) 2006 and 2021. Compiled and presented by .id (opens a new window)(informed decisions).
(Usual residence data)
| Religion - Ranked by size | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greater Hobart - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2021 | 2006 | Change | |||||
| Religion | Number | % | Tasmania % | Number | % | Tasmania % | 2006 to 2021 | |
| Anglican | 34,943 | 14.1 | 14.4 | 35000 | 60,131 | 29.8 | 29.3 | -25,188 |
| Western (Roman) Catholic | 34,850 | 14.1 | 12.7 | 35044 | 42,519 | 21.1 | 18.4 | -7,669 |
| Hinduism | 6,522 | 2.6 | 1.7 | 35016 | 485 | 0.2 | 0.2 | +6,037 |
| Christian,nfd | 5,074 | 2.1 | 2.5 | 35011 | 2,934 | 1.5 | 1.8 | +2,140 |
| Uniting Church | 4,373 | 1.8 | 2.6 | 35043 | 8,378 | 4.2 | 5.8 | -4,005 |
| Buddhism | 3,166 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 35008 | 1,465 | 0.7 | 0.5 | +1,701 |
| Islam | 3,106 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 35017 | 585 | 0.3 | 0.2 | +2,521 |
| Presbyterian and Reformed | 2,849 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 35036 | 4,061 | 2.0 | 2.6 | -1,212 |
| Pentecostal | 1,947 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 35033 | 1,860 | 0.9 | 1.0 | +87 |
| Baptist | 1,630 | 0.7 | 1.2 | 35006 | 1,918 | 1.0 | 1.8 | -288 |
| Sikhism | 1,546 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 35041 | 52 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +1,494 |
| Greek Orthodox | 1,523 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 35015 | 1,508 | 0.7 | 0.4 | +15 |
| Other Protestant | 702 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 35034 | 288 | 0.1 | 0.2 | +414 |
| Jehova's Witnesses | 640 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 35018 | 719 | 0.4 | 0.5 | -79 |
| Lutheran | 504 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 35021 | 996 | 0.5 | 0.5 | -492 |
| Latter Day Saints (Mormons) | 456 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 35020 | 662 | 0.3 | 0.3 | -206 |
| Seventh Day Adventist | 413 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 35040 | 438 | 0.2 | 0.2 | -25 |
| Salvation Army | 352 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 35038 | 765 | 0.4 | 0.5 | -413 |
| Other Christian | 303 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35027 | 316 | 0.2 | 0.1 | -13 |
| Brethren | 258 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 35007 | 389 | 0.2 | 0.5 | -131 |
| Paganism | 254 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35035 | 201 | 0.1 | 0.1 | +53 |
| Churches of Christ | 248 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35013 | 448 | 0.2 | 0.4 | -200 |
| Judaism | 203 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35019 | 142 | 0.1 | 0.1 | +61 |
| Other Oriental Orthodox | 190 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 35032 | 17 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +173 |
| Other Non-Christian Religions | 163 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35031 | 141 | 0.1 | 0.1 | +22 |
| Russian Orthodox | 123 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35037 | 82 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +41 |
| Baha'i | 112 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35005 | 147 | 0.1 | 0.0 | -35 |
| Serbian Orthodox | 109 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35039 | 78 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +31 |
| Other Nature Religions | 108 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35030 | 108 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Chinese and Japanese Religions | 107 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35009 | 84 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +23 |
| Wiccan/Witchcraft | 92 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35045 | 106 | 0.1 | 0.0 | -14 |
| Spiritualism | 56 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35042 | 62 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -6 |
| Other Eastern Orthodox | 40 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35029 | 94 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -54 |
| Other Eastern Catholic | 28 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35028 | 11 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +17 |
| Christadelphian | 26 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35010 | 46 | 0.0 | 0.1 | -20 |
| Maronite Catholic | 20 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35023 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +16 |
| Australian Aboriginal Traditional Religions | 17 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35004 | 14 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +3 |
| Coptic Orthodox | 16 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35014 | 13 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +3 |
| Macedonian Orthodox | 12 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35022 | 9 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +3 |
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Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing (opens a new window) 2006 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 Greater Hobart in 2021 compared to Tasmania shows that there was a similar proportion of people who professed a religion as well as a similar proportion who stated they had no religion.
Overall, 43.3% of the population nominated a religion, and 50.2% said they had no religion, compared with 42.9% and 49.9% respectively for Tasmania.
The largest single religion in Greater Hobart was Anglican, with 14.1% of the population or 34,943 people as adherents.
The major difference between the religious affiliation for the population of Greater Hobart and Tasmania was:
- A larger percentage who nominated Western (Roman) Catholic (14.1% compared to 12.7%)
Emerging groups
The largest changes in the religious affiliation of the population in Greater Hobart between 2006 and 2021 were for those who nominated:
- Anglican (-25,188 persons)
- Western (Roman) Catholic (-7,669 persons)
- Hinduism (+6,037 persons)
- Uniting Church (-4,005 persons)