City of Canterbury Bankstown
Religion
In City of Canterbury Bankstown in 2021, the largest religious group was Islam (23.6% of all people), while 17.6% of people had no religion and 8.0% did not answer the question on religion.
City of Canterbury Bankstown'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.
City of Canterbury Bankstown'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 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| City of Canterbury Bankstown - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2021 | 2001 | Change | |||||
| Religion totals | Number | % | Greenacre - Mount Lewis - Chullora % | Number | % | Greenacre - Mount Lewis - Chullora % | 2001 to 2021 | |
 Christian total | 154,914 | 41.8 | 35.4 | 35500 | 190,291 | 64.5 | 59.0 | -35,378 |
| Non Christian total | 120,117 | 32.4 | 49.5 | 35501 | 56,710 | 19.2 | 29.2 | +63,407 |
| Non-classifiable religious belief | 1,077 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 35502 | 3,267 | 1.1 | 0.9 | -2,190 |
| No Religion/secular beliefs | 65,265 | 17.6 | 6.6 | 35503 | 22,107 | 7.5 | 4.2 | +43,157 |
| Not stated | 29,649 | 8.0 | 8.2 | 35504 | 22,479 | 7.6 | 6.7 | +7,169 |
| Total Population | 371,022 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 294,857 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +76,165 | |
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing (opens a new window) 2001 and 2021. Compiled and presented by .id (opens a new window)(informed decisions).
(Usual residence data)
| Religion - Ranked by size | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| City of Canterbury Bankstown - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2021 | 2001 | Change | |||||
| Religion | Number | % | Greenacre - Mount Lewis - Chullora % | Number | % | Greenacre - Mount Lewis - Chullora % | 2001 to 2021 | |
| Islam | 87,423 | 23.6 | 46.0 | 35017 | 34,533 | 11.7 | 24.7 | +52,890 |
| Western (Roman) Catholic | 67,293 | 18.1 | 14.1 | 35044 | 79,258 | 26.9 | 24.0 | -11,965 |
| Greek Orthodox | 24,397 | 6.6 | 3.9 | 35015 | 25,432 | 8.6 | 6.9 | -1,035 |
| Buddhism | 22,461 | 6.1 | 2.2 | 35008 | 17,606 | 6.0 | 3.3 | +4,855 |
| Anglican | 14,847 | 4.0 | 2.0 | 35000 | 35,513 | 12.0 | 9.1 | -20,667 |
| Maronite Catholic | 11,588 | 3.1 | 6.7 | 35023 | 8,991 | 3.0 | 5.9 | +2,597 |
| Christian,nfd | 8,484 | 2.3 | 1.8 | 35011 | 2,406 | 0.8 | 0.8 | +6,078 |
| Hinduism | 7,892 | 2.1 | 0.8 | 35016 | 2,968 | 1.0 | 0.8 | +4,924 |
| Baptist | 3,713 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 35006 | 4,485 | 1.5 | 1.4 | -772 |
| Presbyterian and Reformed | 3,550 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 35036 | 6,604 | 2.2 | 2.0 | -3,055 |
| Uniting Church | 3,481 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 35043 | 7,823 | 2.7 | 2.2 | -4,343 |
| Other Eastern Orthodox | 3,290 | 0.9 | 1.9 | 35029 | 4,052 | 1.4 | 2.5 | -762 |
| Macedonian Orthodox | 2,902 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 35022 | 3,260 | 1.1 | 0.3 | -358 |
| Pentecostal | 2,251 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 35033 | 2,600 | 0.9 | 1.1 | -350 |
| Coptic Orthodox | 2,198 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 35014 | 1,375 | 0.5 | 0.4 | +822 |
| Other Protestant | 1,511 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 35034 | 1,106 | 0.4 | 0.3 | +404 |
| Sikhism | 928 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 35041 | 444 | 0.2 | 0.1 | +484 |
| Jehova's Witnesses | 790 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 35018 | 905 | 0.3 | 0.4 | -115 |
| Other Eastern Catholic | 761 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 35028 | 693 | 0.2 | 0.4 | +68 |
| Other Non-Christian Religions | 728 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 35031 | 631 | 0.2 | 0.3 | +97 |
| Latter Day Saints (Mormons) | 605 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 35020 | 620 | 0.2 | 0.1 | -16 |
| Other Oriental Orthodox | 545 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 35032 | 327 | 0.1 | 0.1 | +218 |
| Serbian Orthodox | 539 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35039 | 595 | 0.2 | 0.2 | -57 |
| Seventh Day Adventist | 513 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35040 | 718 | 0.2 | 0.2 | -205 |
| Lutheran | 333 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 35021 | 1,115 | 0.4 | 0.2 | -783 |
| Russian Orthodox | 301 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35037 | 418 | 0.1 | 0.1 | -117 |
| Salvation Army | 300 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 35038 | 778 | 0.3 | 0.1 | -478 |
| Judaism | 205 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35019 | 175 | 0.1 | 0.0 | +29 |
| Other Christian | 196 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 35027 | 296 | 0.1 | 0.1 | -100 |
| Chinese and Japanese Religions | 186 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 35009 | 84 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +102 |
| Churches of Christ | 167 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 35013 | 418 | 0.1 | 0.2 | -251 |
| Christadelphian | 146 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35010 | 169 | 0.1 | 0.0 | -23 |
| Armenian Apostolic | 100 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35001 | 110 | 0.0 | -- | -10 |
| Assyrian Apostolic | 92 | 0.0 | -- | 35003 | 88 | 0.0 | -- | +4 |
| Baha'i | 86 | 0.0 | -- | 35005 | 88 | 0.0 | -- | -2 |
| Paganism | 69 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35035 | 67 | 0.0 | -- | +2 |
| Wiccan/Witchcraft | 49 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35045 | 39 | 0.0 | -- | +10 |
| Spiritualism | 42 | 0.0 | -- | 35042 | 36 | 0.0 | -- | +6 |
| Other Nature Religions | 39 | 0.0 | -- | 35030 | 30 | 0.0 | -- | +9 |
| Brethren | 21 | 0.0 | -- | 35007 | 129 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -108 |
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Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing (opens a new window) 2001 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 City of Canterbury Bankstown in 2021 compared to Greenacre - Mount Lewis - Chullora shows that there was a lower proportion of people who professed a religion and a higher proportion who stated they had no religion.
Overall, 74.1% of the population nominated a religion, and 17.6% said they had no religion, compared with 84.9% and 6.6% respectively for Greenacre - Mount Lewis - Chullora.
The largest single religion in City of Canterbury Bankstown was Islam, with 23.6% of the population or 87,423 people as adherents.
The major differences between the religious affiliation for the population of City of Canterbury Bankstown and Greenacre - Mount Lewis - Chullora were:
- A larger percentage who nominated Western (Roman) Catholic (18.1% compared to 14.1%)
- A larger percentage who nominated Buddhism (6.1% compared to 2.2%)
- A smaller percentage who nominated Islam (23.6% compared to 46.0%)
- A smaller percentage who nominated Maronite Catholic (3.1% compared to 6.7%)
Emerging groups
The largest changes in the religious affiliation of the population in City of Canterbury Bankstown between 2001 and 2021 were for those who nominated:
- Islam (+52,890 persons)
- Anglican (-20,667 persons)
- Western (Roman) Catholic (-11,965 persons)
- Christian,nfd (+6,078 persons)