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City of NewcastleCommunity profile

In the City of Newcastle in 2021, the largest religious group was Western (Roman) Catholic (18.8% of all people), while 45.2% of people had no religion and 5.6% did not answer the question on religion.

The City of Newcastle'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 City of Newcastle'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
City of Newcastle - Total persons (Usual residence)20212011Change
Religion totalsNumber%Regional NSW %Number%Regional NSW %2011 to 2021
Christian total74,34044.051.198,02566.071.0-23,685
Non Christian total7,5254.53.04,6293.12.1+2,896
Non-classifiable religious belief1,0900.60.51,4641.00.8-374
No Religion/secular beliefs76,37345.237.633,57122.618.4+42,802
Not stated9,5355.67.710,8447.37.8-1,309
Total Population168,863100.0100.0148,533100.0100.0+20,330
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2011 and 2021. Compiled and presented by .id (informed decisions).
Please refer to specific data notes for more information
Religion - Ranked by size
City of Newcastle - Total persons (Usual residence)20212011Change
ReligionNumber%Regional NSW %Number%Regional NSW %2011 to 2021
Western (Roman) Catholic31,76418.821.037,57125.326.2-5,807
Anglican20,84912.317.033,06722.326.6-12,218
Uniting Church4,8332.93.38,7975.95.8-3,964
Christian,nfd4,2852.52.22,9172.01.9+1,368
Presbyterian and Reformed2,9261.72.64,7253.24.2-1,799
Islam2,8301.70.71,3990.90.4+1,431
Baptist2,3151.41.22,9902.01.4-675
Hinduism1,8391.10.77380.50.3+1,101
Buddhism1,8301.10.81,7301.20.8+100
Pentecostal1,5020.90.81,4851.00.9+17
Show all (39 entries)
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2011 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 the City of Newcastle in 2021 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, 48.5% of the population nominated a religion, and 45.2% said they had no religion, compared with 54.1% and 37.6% respectively for Regional NSW.

The largest single religion in the City of Newcastle was Western (Roman) Catholic, with 18.8% of the population or 31,764 people as adherents.

The major differences between the religious affiliation for the population of the City of Newcastle and Regional NSW were:

  • A smaller percentage who nominated Anglican (12.3% compared to 17.0%)
  • A smaller percentage who nominated Western (Roman) Catholic (18.8% compared to 21.0%)

Emerging groups

The largest changes in the religious affiliation of the population in the City of Newcastle between 2011 and 2021 were for those who nominated:

  • Anglican (-12,218 persons)
  • Western (Roman) Catholic (-5,807 persons)
  • Uniting Church (-3,964 persons)
  • Presbyterian and Reformed (-1,799 persons)

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