Bella Vista
Religion
In Bella Vista in 2016, the largest religious group was Western (Roman) Catholic (24.1% of all people), while 18.1% of people had no religion and 5.1% did not answer the question on religion.
Bella Vista'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.
Bella Vista'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.
Derived from the Census question:
'What is the person's religion?'
Total population
| Religion - Summary | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bella Vista - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2016 | 2011 | Change | |||||
| Religion totals | Number | % | New South Wales % | Number | % | New South Wales % | 2011 to 2016 | |
 Christian total | 4,232 | 52.7 | 55.2 | 35500 | 4,803 | 65.3 | 64.5 | -571 |
| Non Christian total | 1,905 | 23.7 | 10.1 | 35501 | 1,417 | 19.3 | 9.1 | +488 |
| Non-classifiable religious belief | 23 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 35502 | 40 | 0.5 | 0.7 | -16 |
| No Religion/secular beliefs | 1,456 | 18.1 | 25.4 | 35503 | 838 | 11.4 | 17.9 | +617 |
| Not stated | 411 | 5.1 | 8.8 | 35504 | 252 | 3.4 | 7.7 | +158 |
| Total Population | 8,029 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 7,353 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +676 | |
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing (opens a new window) 2011 and 2016. Compiled and presented by .id (opens a new window)(informed decisions).
(Usual residence data)
| Religion - Ranked by size | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bella Vista - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2016 | 2011 | Change | |||||
| Religion | Number | % | New South Wales % | Number | % | New South Wales % | 2011 to 2016 | |
| Western (Roman) Catholic | 1,930 | 24.1 | 24.1 | 35044 | 2,250 | 30.6 | 27.0 | -320 |
| Hinduism | 998 | 12.5 | 2.4 | 35016 | 633 | 8.6 | 1.7 | +365 |
| Anglican | 728 | 9.1 | 15.5 | 35000 | 978 | 13.3 | 19.9 | -249 |
| Pentecostal | 467 | 5.8 | 1.0 | 35033 | 463 | 6.3 | 1.0 | +4 |
| Buddhism | 349 | 4.4 | 2.8 | 35008 | 283 | 3.8 | 2.9 | +67 |
| Islam | 304 | 3.8 | 3.6 | 35017 | 292 | 4.0 | 3.2 | +11 |
| Sikhism | 226 | 2.8 | 0.4 | 35041 | 185 | 2.5 | 0.3 | +41 |
| Other Christian | 178 | 2.2 | 0.1 | 35027 | 11 | 0.1 | 0.1 | +167 |
| Greek Orthodox | 175 | 2.2 | 1.7 | 35015 | 209 | 2.9 | 1.9 | -34 |
| Uniting Church | 140 | 1.8 | 2.9 | 35043 | 199 | 2.7 | 3.9 | -58 |
| Presbyterian and Reformed | 139 | 1.7 | 2.5 | 35036 | 128 | 1.7 | 3.1 | +12 |
| Baptist | 69 | 0.9 | 1.3 | 35006 | 102 | 1.4 | 1.4 | -32 |
| Coptic Orthodox | 69 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 35014 | 53 | 0.7 | 0.2 | +16 |
| Other Protestant | 63 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 35034 | 52 | 0.7 | 0.3 | +11 |
| Maronite Catholic | 49 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 35023 | 29 | 0.4 | 0.4 | +20 |
| Latter Day Saints (Mormons) | 35 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 35020 | 6 | 0.1 | 0.2 | +29 |
| Lutheran | 28 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 35021 | 29 | 0.4 | 0.5 | -1 |
| Armenian Apostolic | 22 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 35001 | 18 | 0.2 | 0.1 | +4 |
| Macedonian Orthodox | 17 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 35022 | 24 | 0.3 | 0.3 | -7 |
| Other Oriental Orthodox | 15 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 35032 | 10 | 0.1 | 0.0 | +5 |
| Other Non-Christian Religions | 15 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 35031 | 5 | 0.1 | 0.2 | +9 |
| Seventh Day Adventist | 15 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 35040 | 3 | 0.1 | 0.3 | +11 |
| Serbian Orthodox | 15 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 35039 | 21 | 0.3 | 0.3 | -7 |
| Salvation Army | 14 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 35038 | 12 | 0.2 | 0.3 | +2 |
| Other Eastern Catholic | 14 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 35028 | 8 | 0.1 | 0.1 | +6 |
| Baha'i | 13 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 35005 | 10 | 0.1 | 0.1 | +3 |
| Jehova's Witnesses | 12 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 35018 | 6 | 0.1 | 0.3 | +6 |
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Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing (opens a new window) 2011 and 2016. Compiled and presented by .id (opens a new window)(informed decisions).
Excludes religions with fewer than 10 adherents.
Compiled and presented in profile.id by .id (informed decisions).
Compiled and presented in profile.id by .id (informed decisions).
Dominant groups
Analysis of the religious affiliation of the population of Bella Vista in 2016 compared to New South Wales shows that there was a higher proportion of people who professed a religion and a lower proportion who stated they had no religion.
Overall, 76.4% of the population nominated a religion, and 18.1% said they had no religion, compared with 65.3% and 25.4% respectively for New South Wales.
The largest single religion in Bella Vista was Western (Roman) Catholic, with 24.1% of the population or 1,930 people as adherents.
The major differences between the religious affiliation for the population of Bella Vista and New South Wales were:
- A larger percentage who nominated Hinduism (12.5% compared to 2.4%)
- A larger percentage who nominated Pentecostal (5.8% compared to 1.0%)
- A larger percentage who nominated Sikhism (2.8% compared to 0.4%)
- A smaller percentage who nominated Anglican (9.1% compared to 15.5%)
Emerging groups
The largest changes in the religious affiliation of the population in Bella Vista between 2011 and 2016 were for those who nominated:
- Hinduism (+365 persons)
- Western (Roman) Catholic (-320 persons)
- Anglican (-249 persons)
- Other Christian (+167 persons)