Greater Melbourne
Religion
In Greater Melbourne in 2016, the largest religious group was Western (Roman) Catholic (23.2% of all people), while 31.3% of people had no religion and 8.6% did not answer the question on religion.
Greater Melbourne'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 Melbourne'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 Melbourne - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2016 | 2006 | Change | |||||
| Religion totals | Number | % | Regional NSW % | Number | % | Regional NSW % | 2006 to 2016 | |
| Christian total | 2,075,001 | 46.3 | 61.5 | 35500 | 2,150,750 | 59.0 | 73.9 | -75,749 |
| Non Christian total | 593,300 | 13.2 | 2.3 | 35501 | 333,510 | 9.1 | 1.5 | +259,790 |
| Non-classifiable religious belief | 29,183 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 35502 | 27,531 | 0.8 | 0.6 | +1,652 |
| No Religion/secular beliefs | 1,404,052 | 31.3 | 26.3 | 35503 | 730,995 | 20.0 | 14.5 | +673,057 |
| Not stated | 383,670 | 8.6 | 9.3 | 35504 | 403,301 | 11.1 | 9.5 | -19,631 |
| Total Population | 4,485,206 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 3,646,087 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +839,119 | |
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing (opens a new window) 2006 and 2016. Compiled and presented by .id (opens a new window)(informed decisions).
(Usual residence data)
| Religion - Ranked by size | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greater Melbourne - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2016 | 2006 | Change | |||||
| Religion | Number | % | Regional NSW % | Number | % | Regional NSW % | 2006 to 2016 | |
| Western (Roman) Catholic | 1,039,751 | 23.2 | 23.8 | 35044 | 1,027,839 | 28.2 | 26.6 | +11,912 |
| Anglican | 340,028 | 7.6 | 21.9 | 35000 | 443,049 | 12.2 | 28.2 | -103,021 |
| Islam | 186,654 | 4.2 | 0.5 | 35017 | 103,228 | 2.8 | 0.3 | +83,426 |
| Buddhism | 170,553 | 3.8 | 0.8 | 35008 | 126,156 | 3.5 | 0.6 | +44,397 |
| Greek Orthodox | 156,247 | 3.5 | 0.4 | 35015 | 156,432 | 4.3 | 0.5 | -185 |
| Hinduism | 128,940 | 2.9 | 0.4 | 35016 | 40,533 | 1.1 | 0.2 | +88,407 |
| Christian,nfd | 116,344 | 2.6 | 2.2 | 35011 | 51,482 | 1.4 | 1.4 | +64,862 |
| Uniting Church | 104,138 | 2.3 | 4.5 | 35043 | 146,824 | 4.0 | 6.6 | -42,686 |
| Presbyterian and Reformed | 70,046 | 1.6 | 3.5 | 35036 | 85,212 | 2.3 | 4.6 | -15,166 |
| Baptist | 58,780 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 35006 | 52,132 | 1.4 | 1.4 | +6,648 |
| Sikhism | 49,601 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 35041 | 8,709 | 0.2 | 0.1 | +40,892 |
| Pentecostal | 42,540 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 35033 | 30,329 | 0.8 | 0.9 | +12,211 |
| Judaism | 41,643 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 35019 | 40,471 | 1.1 | 0.1 | +1,172 |
| Macedonian Orthodox | 18,576 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 35022 | 20,347 | 0.6 | 0.3 | -1,771 |
| Other Protestant | 17,849 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 35034 | 10,033 | 0.3 | 0.2 | +7,816 |
| Lutheran | 15,019 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 35021 | 24,574 | 0.7 | 0.7 | -9,555 |
| Serbian Orthodox | 10,811 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 35039 | 11,536 | 0.3 | 0.1 | -725 |
| Jehova's Witnesses | 10,254 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 35018 | 9,786 | 0.3 | 0.4 | +468 |
| Latter Day Saints (Mormons) | 9,756 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 35020 | 7,858 | 0.2 | 0.2 | +1,898 |
| Other Eastern Catholic | 8,213 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 35028 | 3,676 | 0.1 | 0.0 | +4,537 |
| Seventh Day Adventist | 8,082 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 35040 | 6,627 | 0.2 | 0.5 | +1,455 |
| Coptic Orthodox | 7,949 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 35014 | 5,310 | 0.1 | 0.0 | +2,639 |
| Churches of Christ | 6,879 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 35013 | 10,166 | 0.3 | 0.1 | -3,287 |
| Salvation Army | 6,007 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 35038 | 8,207 | 0.2 | 0.5 | -2,200 |
| Other Oriental Orthodox | 5,502 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 35032 | 1,767 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +3,735 |
| Other Non-Christian Religions | 5,248 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 35031 | 4,095 | 0.1 | 0.1 | +1,153 |
| Russian Orthodox | 5,214 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 35037 | 4,714 | 0.1 | 0.0 | +500 |
| Other Eastern Orthodox | 4,199 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 35029 | 20,304 | 0.6 | 0.2 | -16,105 |
| Other Christian | 3,179 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35027 | 3,514 | 0.1 | 0.1 | -335 |
| Assyrian Apostolic | 2,729 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 35003 | 1,055 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +1,674 |
| Baha'i | 2,577 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 35005 | 1,863 | 0.1 | 0.0 | +714 |
| Maronite Catholic | 2,343 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 35023 | 2,329 | 0.1 | 0.0 | +14 |
| Paganism | 2,094 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 35035 | 2,444 | 0.1 | 0.1 | -350 |
| Chinese and Japanese Religions | 1,999 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35009 | 1,253 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +746 |
| Brethren | 1,895 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 35007 | 2,696 | 0.1 | 0.1 | -801 |
| Armenian Apostolic | 1,886 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35001 | 1,850 | 0.1 | 0.0 | +36 |
| Spiritualism | 1,625 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35042 | 1,799 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -174 |
| Other Nature Religions | 1,185 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35030 | 1,420 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -235 |
| Wiccan/Witchcraft | 1,017 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35045 | 1,368 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -351 |
| Christadelphian | 936 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35010 | 1,102 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -166 |
| Australian Aboriginal Traditional Religions | 224 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35004 | 171 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +53 |
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Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing (opens a new window) 2006 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 Melbourne in 2016 compared to Regional NSW shows that there was a lower proportion of people who professed a religion and a higher proportion who stated they had no religion.
Overall, 59.5% of the population nominated a religion, and 31.3% said they had no religion, compared with 63.9% and 26.3% respectively for Regional NSW.
The largest single religion in Greater Melbourne was Western (Roman) Catholic, with 23.2% of the population or 1,039,751 people as adherents.
The major differences between the religious affiliation for the population of Greater Melbourne and Regional NSW were:
- A larger percentage who nominated Islam (4.2% compared to 0.5%)
- A larger percentage who nominated Greek Orthodox (3.5% compared to 0.4%)
- A larger percentage who nominated Buddhism (3.8% compared to 0.8%)
- A smaller percentage who nominated Anglican (7.6% compared to 21.9%)
Emerging groups
The largest changes in the religious affiliation of the population in Greater Melbourne between 2006 and 2016 were for those who nominated:
- Anglican (-103,021 persons)
- Hinduism (+88,407 persons)
- Islam (+83,426 persons)
- Christian,nfd (+64,862 persons)