Powered by .id (informed decisions) for RDA Darling Downs and South West Region
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LEARN MORE ABOUT .idIn Western Downs Regional Council area in 2021, the largest religious group was Western (Roman) Catholic (19.4% of all people), while 30.5% of people had no religion and 11.0% did not answer the question on religion.
Western Downs Regional 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.
Western Downs Regional 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 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Western Downs Regional Council area - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2021 | 2001 | Change | ||||
| Religion totals | Number | % | Toowoomba Regional Council area % | Number | % | Toowoomba Regional Council area % | 2001 to 2021 |
| Christian total | 19,245 | 56.9 | 55.9 | 22,796 | 82.4 | 80.2 | -3,551 |
| Non Christian total | 410 | 1.2 | 5.0 | 140 | 0.5 | 1.1 | +270 |
| Non-classifiable religious belief | 149 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 267 | 1.0 | 1.2 | -118 |
| No Religion/secular beliefs | 10,315 | 30.5 | 31.9 | 2,258 | 8.2 | 9.0 | +8,057 |
| Not stated | 3,720 | 11.0 | 6.6 | 2,207 | 8.0 | 8.5 | +1,512 |
| Total Population | 33,839 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 27,669 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +6,170 |
| Religion - Ranked by size | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Western Downs Regional Council area - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2021 | 2001 | Change | ||||
| Religion | Number | % | Toowoomba Regional Council area % | Number | % | Toowoomba Regional Council area % | 2001 to 2021 |
| Western (Roman) Catholic | 6,561 | 19.4 | 20.0 | 6,703 | 24.2 | 25.9 | -143 |
| Anglican | 5,438 | 16.1 | 14.9 | 7,378 | 26.7 | 24.6 | -1,940 |
| Presbyterian and Reformed | 1,771 | 5.2 | 2.6 | 2,612 | 9.4 | 4.9 | -842 |
| Uniting Church | 1,488 | 4.4 | 4.3 | 2,316 | 8.4 | 9.0 | -828 |
| Christian,nfd | 1,153 | 3.4 | 5.0 | 446 | 1.6 | 2.1 | +707 |
| Lutheran | 925 | 2.7 | 3.1 | 1,391 | 5.0 | 6.2 | -467 |
| Baptist | 639 | 1.9 | 1.4 | 580 | 2.1 | 1.4 | +59 |
| Pentecostal | 566 | 1.7 | 1.5 | 478 | 1.7 | 2.1 | +88 |
| Churches of Christ | 179 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 246 | 0.9 | 1.2 | -68 |
| Jehova's Witnesses | 162 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 252 | 0.9 | 0.6 | -90 |
Show all (23 entries)
Dominant groups
Analysis of the religious affiliation of the population of Western Downs Regional Council area in 2021 compared to Toowoomba Regional Council area shows that there was a lower proportion of people who professed a religion as well as a lower proportion who stated they had no religion.
Overall, 58.1% of the population nominated a religion, and 30.5% said they had no religion, compared with 60.9% and 31.9% respectively for Toowoomba Regional Council area.
The largest single religion in Western Downs Regional Council area was Western (Roman) Catholic, with 19.4% of the population or 6,561 people as adherents.
The major differences between the religious affiliation for the population of Western Downs Regional Council area and Toowoomba Regional Council area were:
- A larger percentage who nominated Presbyterian and Reformed (5.2% compared to 2.6%)
- A larger percentage who nominated Anglican (16.1% compared to 14.9%)
- A smaller percentage who nominated Christian,nfd (3.4% compared to 5.0%)
Emerging groups
The largest changes in the religious affiliation of the population in Western Downs Regional Council area between 2001 and 2021 were for those who nominated:
- Anglican (-1,940 persons)
- Presbyterian and Reformed (-842 persons)
- Uniting Church (-828 persons)
- Christian,nfd (+707 persons)
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