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Wagga Wagga City CouncilCommunity profile

In Wagga Wagga City in 2021, the largest religious group was Western (Roman) Catholic (26.8% of all people), while 31.6% of people had no religion and 6.4% did not answer the question on religion.

Wagga Wagga City'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.

Wagga Wagga City'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
Wagga Wagga City - Total persons (Usual residence)20212016Change
Religion totalsNumber%Regional NSW %Number%Regional NSW %2016 to 2021
Christian total38,53857.051.141,81767.061.5-3,279
Non Christian total3,1114.63.01,5702.52.3+1,541
Non-classifiable religious belief3270.50.53130.50.6+14
No Religion/secular beliefs21,34031.637.613,97522.426.3+7,365
Not stated4,2996.47.74,7117.69.3-412
Total Population67,615100.0100.062,386100.0100.0+5,229
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2016 and 2021. Compiled and presented by .id (informed decisions).
Please refer to specific data notes for more information
Religion - Ranked by size
Wagga Wagga City - Total persons (Usual residence)20212016Change
ReligionNumber%Regional NSW %Number%Regional NSW %2016 to 2021
Western (Roman) Catholic18,12526.821.018,95430.423.8-829
Anglican10,37715.317.012,13619.521.9-1,759
Presbyterian and Reformed2,5363.82.63,0854.93.5-549
Uniting Church2,2983.43.32,8144.54.5-516
Christian,nfd1,3872.12.21,1471.82.2+240
Other Non-Christian Religions8891.30.1250.00.0+864
Baptist8011.21.28011.31.30
Hinduism7521.10.74320.70.4+320
Islam6531.00.75520.90.5+101
Pentecostal6330.90.86111.00.9+22
Show all (34 entries)
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2016 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 Wagga Wagga City in 2021 compared to Regional NSW shows that there was a higher proportion of people who professed a religion and a lower proportion who stated they had no religion.

Overall, 61.6% of the population nominated a religion, and 31.6% said they had no religion, compared with 54.1% and 37.6% respectively for Regional NSW.

The largest single religion in Wagga Wagga City was Western (Roman) Catholic, with 26.8% of the population or 18,125 people as adherents.

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

  • A larger percentage who nominated Western (Roman) Catholic (26.8% compared to 21.0%)
  • A larger percentage who nominated Other Non-Christian Religions (1.3% compared to 0.1%)
  • A larger percentage who nominated Presbyterian and Reformed (3.8% compared to 2.6%)
  • A smaller percentage who nominated Anglican (15.3% compared to 17.0%)

Emerging groups

The largest changes in the religious affiliation of the population in Wagga Wagga City between 2016 and 2021 were for those who nominated:

  • Anglican (-1,759 persons)
  • Other Non-Christian Religions (+864 persons)
  • Western (Roman) Catholic (-829 persons)
  • Presbyterian and Reformed (-549 persons)

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