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Central Coast NSWCommunity profile

Central Coast Council area

Religion

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In Central Coast Council area in 2021, the largest religious group was Western (Roman) Catholic (21.7% of all people), while 39.7% of people had no religion and 6.1% did not answer the question on religion.

Central Coast Council area'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.

Central Coast Council area'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.

Q:

Derived from the Census question:

'What is the person's religion?'

Religion - Summary
Central Coast Council area - Total persons (Usual residence)20212016Change
Religion totalsNumber%Blue Haven %Number%Blue Haven %2016 to 2021
Christian total176,44450.948.8201,77861.665.7-25,334
Non Christian total9,2042.72.26,9362.11.7+2,268
Non-classifiable religious belief2,0280.60.51,8470.60.3+181
No Religion/secular beliefs137,61539.743.991,45927.926.9+46,156
Not stated21,3056.14.625,7137.85.4-4,408
Total Population346,596100.0100.0327,733100.0100.0+18,863
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2016 and 2021. Compiled and presented by .id (informed decisions).
Please refer to specific data notes for more information
Religion - Ranked by size
Central Coast Council area - Total persons (Usual residence)20212016Change
ReligionNumber%Blue Haven %Number%Blue Haven %2016 to 2021
Western (Roman) Catholic75,08421.722.580,81424.726.7-5,730
Anglican58,10716.817.073,81422.526.4-15,707
Uniting Church8,3182.42.010,5103.22.6-2,192
Christian,nfd7,7962.21.47,0432.1--+753
Presbyterian and Reformed6,9012.01.68,6562.62.3-1,755
Baptist5,1991.51.05,6211.71.7-422
Buddhism3,4141.00.53,1791.00.6+235
Other Protestant3,2280.90.33,0790.90.4+149
Pentecostal3,1530.91.13,4671.10.9-314
Hinduism2,2050.60.41,1580.40.0+1,047
Show all (41 entries)
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2016 and 2021. Compiled and presented by .id (informed decisions).
Please refer to specific data notes for more information

Excludes religions with fewer than 10 adherents.

Dominant groups

Analysis of the religious affiliation of the population of Central Coast Council area in 2021 compared to Blue Haven shows that there was a higher proportion of people who professed a religion and a lower proportion who stated they had no religion.

Overall, 53.6% of the population nominated a religion, and 39.7% said they had no religion, compared with 51.0% and 43.9% respectively for Blue Haven.

The largest single religion in Central Coast Council area was Western (Roman) Catholic, with 21.7% of the population or 75,084 people as adherents.

There were no major differences between Central Coast Council area and Blue Haven in 2021.

Emerging groups

The largest changes in the religious affiliation of the population in Central Coast Council area between 2016 and 2021 were for those who nominated:

  • Anglican (-15,707 persons)
  • Western (Roman) Catholic (-5,730 persons)
  • Uniting Church (-2,192 persons)
  • Presbyterian and Reformed (-1,755 persons)

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