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LEARN MORE ABOUT .idIn the Rest of Sydney in 2021, the largest religious group was Western (Roman) Catholic (21.6% of all people), while 38.9% of people had no religion and 5.7% did not answer the question on religion.
The Rest of Sydney'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 Rest of Sydney'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 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rest of Sydney - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2021 | 2016 | Change | ||||
| Religion totals | Number | % | Camden Council area % | Number | % | Camden Council area % | 2016 to 2021 |
| Christian total | 1,001,331 | 44.0 | 58.8 | 1,061,050 | 48.5 | 69.3 | -59,719 |
| Non Christian total | 247,297 | 10.9 | 11.3 | 214,476 | 9.8 | 4.9 | +32,821 |
| Non-classifiable religious belief | 11,971 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 12,647 | 0.6 | 0.3 | -676 |
| No Religion/secular beliefs | 886,396 | 38.9 | 25.2 | 698,398 | 31.9 | 19.1 | +187,998 |
| Not stated | 130,938 | 5.7 | 4.3 | 202,453 | 9.2 | 6.3 | -71,515 |
| Total Population | 2,277,933 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 2,189,024 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +88,909 |
| Religion - Ranked by size | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rest of Sydney - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2021 | 2016 | Change | ||||
| Religion | Number | % | Camden Council area % | Number | % | Camden Council area % | 2016 to 2021 |
| Western (Roman) Catholic | 490,969 | 21.6 | 31.1 | 502,226 | 22.9 | 34.0 | -11,257 |
| Anglican | 216,788 | 9.5 | 13.9 | 257,600 | 11.8 | 21.4 | -40,812 |
| Buddhism | 75,627 | 3.3 | 1.5 | 72,299 | 3.3 | 1.1 | +3,328 |
| Hinduism | 72,821 | 3.2 | 3.6 | 55,528 | 2.5 | 1.2 | +17,293 |
| Greek Orthodox | 68,289 | 3.0 | 1.4 | 64,948 | 3.0 | 1.1 | +3,341 |
| Islam | 50,263 | 2.2 | 4.8 | 41,700 | 1.9 | 2.0 | +8,563 |
| Christian,nfd | 46,701 | 2.1 | 2.9 | 40,450 | 1.8 | 2.4 | +6,251 |
| Presbyterian and Reformed | 36,390 | 1.6 | 1.1 | 44,455 | 2.0 | 1.7 | -8,065 |
| Judaism | 36,086 | 1.6 | 0.1 | 33,603 | 1.5 | 0.1 | +2,483 |
| Uniting Church | 35,887 | 1.6 | 1.3 | 45,394 | 2.1 | 2.4 | -9,507 |
Show all (41 entries)
Dominant groups
Analysis of the religious affiliation of the population of the Rest of Sydney in 2021 compared to Camden Council area shows that there was a lower proportion of people who professed a religion and a higher proportion who stated they had no religion.
Overall, 54.8% of the population nominated a religion, and 38.9% said they had no religion, compared with 70.1% and 25.2% respectively for Camden Council area.
The largest single religion in the Rest of Sydney was Western (Roman) Catholic, with 21.6% of the population or 490,969 people as adherents.
The major differences between the religious affiliation for the population of the Rest of Sydney and Camden Council area were:
- A larger percentage who nominated Buddhism (3.3% compared to 1.5%)
- A smaller percentage who nominated Western (Roman) Catholic (21.6% compared to 31.1%)
- A smaller percentage who nominated Anglican (9.5% compared to 13.9%)
- A smaller percentage who nominated Islam (2.2% compared to 4.8%)
Emerging groups
The largest changes in the religious affiliation of the population in the Rest of Sydney between 2016 and 2021 were for those who nominated:
- Anglican (-40,812 persons)
- Hinduism (+17,293 persons)
- Western (Roman) Catholic (-11,257 persons)
- Uniting Church (-9,507 persons)
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