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LEARN MORE ABOUT .idIn the Northern Lakes District in 2021, the largest religious group was Western (Roman) Catholic (22.6% of all people), while 36.9% of people had no religion and 5.7% did not answer the question on religion.
The Northern Lakes District'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.
The Northern Lakes District'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 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Lakes District - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2021 | 2016 | Change | ||||
| Religion totals | Number | % | Central Coast Council area % | Number | % | Central Coast Council area % | 2016 to 2021 |
| Christian total | 9,675 | 55.5 | 50.9 | 10,914 | 66.1 | 61.6 | -1,239 |
| Non Christian total | 243 | 1.4 | 2.7 | 210 | 1.3 | 2.1 | +33 |
| Non-classifiable religious belief | 94 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 52 | 0.3 | 0.6 | +42 |
| No Religion/secular beliefs | 6,422 | 36.9 | 39.7 | 4,185 | 25.4 | 27.9 | +2,237 |
| Not stated | 989 | 5.7 | 6.1 | 1,139 | 6.9 | 7.8 | -150 |
| Total Population | 17,423 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 16,500 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +923 |
| Religion - Ranked by size | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Lakes District - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2021 | 2016 | Change | ||||
| Religion | Number | % | Central Coast Council area % | Number | % | Central Coast Council area % | 2016 to 2021 |
| Western (Roman) Catholic | 3,944 | 22.6 | 21.7 | 4,293 | 26.0 | 24.7 | -349 |
| Anglican | 3,745 | 21.5 | 16.8 | 4,620 | 28.0 | 22.5 | -875 |
| Presbyterian and Reformed | 437 | 2.5 | 2.0 | 513 | 3.1 | 2.6 | -76 |
| Uniting Church | 431 | 2.5 | 2.4 | 549 | 3.3 | 3.2 | -118 |
| Christian,nfd | 305 | 1.8 | 2.2 | 195 | 1.2 | 2.1 | +110 |
| Baptist | 232 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 249 | 1.5 | 1.7 | -17 |
| Pentecostal | 135 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 98 | 0.6 | 1.1 | +37 |
| Buddhism | 106 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 124 | 0.8 | 1.0 | -18 |
| Jehova's Witnesses | 90 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 87 | 0.5 | 0.4 | +3 |
| Other Protestant | 88 | 0.5 | 0.9 | 69 | 0.4 | 0.9 | +19 |
Show all (20 entries)
Dominant groups
Analysis of the religious affiliation of the population of the Northern Lakes District in 2021 compared to Central Coast Council area shows that there was a higher proportion of people who professed a religion and a lower proportion who stated they had no religion.
Overall, 56.9% of the population nominated a religion, and 36.9% said they had no religion, compared with 53.6% and 39.7% respectively for Central Coast Council area.
The largest single religion in the Northern Lakes District was Western (Roman) Catholic, with 22.6% of the population or 3,944 people as adherents.
The major difference between the religious affiliation for the population of the Northern Lakes District and Central Coast Council area was:
- A larger percentage who nominated Anglican (21.5% compared to 16.8%)
Emerging groups
The largest changes in the religious affiliation of the population in the Northern Lakes District between 2016 and 2021 were for those who nominated:
- Anglican (-875 persons)
- Western (Roman) Catholic (-349 persons)
- Uniting Church (-118 persons)
- Christian,nfd (+110 persons)
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