Australia
Religion
In Australia in 2016, the largest religious group was Western (Roman) Catholic (22.3% of all people), while 29.9% of people had no religion and 9.1% did not answer the question on religion.
Australia'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.
Australia'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 | ||||||||
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Australia - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2016 | 2011 | Change | |||||
Religion totals | Number | % | Canberra % | Number | % | Canberra % | 2011 to 2016 | |
Christian total | 12,201,613 | 52.1 | 45.4 | 35500 | 13,150,078 | 61.1 | 55.2 | -948,465 |
Non Christian total | 1,922,028 | 8.2 | 8.7 | 35501 | 1,547,806 | 7.2 | 7.4 | +374,222 |
Non-classifiable religious belief | 144,780 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 35502 | 171,633 | 0.8 | 1.0 | -26,853 |
No Religion/secular beliefs | 7,001,293 | 29.9 | 36.6 | 35503 | 4,796,432 | 22.3 | 28.9 | +2,204,861 |
Not stated | 2,132,160 | 9.1 | 8.5 | 35504 | 1,838,740 | 8.6 | 7.5 | +293,420 |
Total Population | 23,401,874 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 21,504,689 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +1,897,185 |
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 | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Australia - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2016 | 2011 | Change | |||||
Religion | Number | % | Canberra % | Number | % | Canberra % | 2011 to 2016 | |
Western (Roman) Catholic | 5,229,667 | 22.3 | 22.1 | 35044 | 5,397,181 | 25.1 | 26.1 | -167,514 |
Anglican | 3,101,188 | 13.3 | 10.8 | 35000 | 3,679,688 | 17.1 | 14.7 | -578,500 |
Uniting Church | 870,187 | 3.7 | 2.4 | 35043 | 1,065,749 | 5.0 | 3.3 | -195,562 |
Christian,nfd | 612,365 | 2.6 | 2.3 | 35011 | 470,898 | 2.2 | 2.1 | +141,467 |
Islam | 604,244 | 2.6 | 2.5 | 35017 | 475,562 | 2.2 | 2.1 | +128,682 |
Buddhism | 563,672 | 2.4 | 2.5 | 35008 | 528,621 | 2.5 | 2.6 | +35,051 |
Presbyterian and Reformed | 526,683 | 2.3 | 1.9 | 35036 | 599,489 | 2.8 | 2.4 | -72,806 |
Hinduism | 440,298 | 1.9 | 2.6 | 35016 | 275,521 | 1.3 | 1.7 | +164,777 |
Greek Orthodox | 373,594 | 1.6 | 1.1 | 35015 | 383,390 | 1.8 | 1.2 | -9,796 |
Baptist | 345,145 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 35006 | 352,482 | 1.6 | 1.2 | -7,337 |
Pentecostal | 260,562 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 35033 | 237,992 | 1.1 | 1.0 | +22,570 |
Lutheran | 174,024 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 35021 | 251,928 | 1.2 | 1.0 | -77,904 |
Sikhism | 125,901 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 35041 | 72,296 | 0.3 | 0.3 | +53,605 |
Other Protestant | 108,309 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 35034 | 60,220 | 0.3 | 0.3 | +48,089 |
Judaism | 91,016 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 35019 | 97,332 | 0.5 | 0.2 | -6,316 |
Jehova's Witnesses | 82,513 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 35018 | 85,637 | 0.4 | 0.2 | -3,124 |
Seventh Day Adventist | 62,932 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 35040 | 62,995 | 0.3 | 0.2 | -63 |
Latter Day Saints (Mormons) | 61,642 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 35020 | 59,767 | 0.3 | 0.2 | +1,875 |
Macedonian Orthodox | 49,678 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 35022 | 52,056 | 0.2 | 0.1 | -2,378 |
Salvation Army | 48,952 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 35038 | 60,160 | 0.3 | 0.2 | -11,208 |
Serbian Orthodox | 41,013 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 35039 | 41,835 | 0.2 | 0.3 | -822 |
Churches of Christ | 39,621 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 35013 | 49,689 | 0.2 | 0.1 | -10,068 |
Maronite Catholic | 36,436 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 35023 | 30,660 | 0.1 | 0.0 | +5,776 |
Coptic Orthodox | 28,638 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35014 | 24,695 | 0.1 | 0.0 | +3,943 |
Other Non-Christian Religions | 28,161 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35031 | 24,404 | 0.1 | 0.1 | +3,757 |
Other Eastern Catholic | 25,749 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 35028 | 11,209 | 0.1 | 0.0 | +14,540 |
Russian Orthodox | 21,958 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35037 | 22,251 | 0.1 | 0.1 | -293 |
Other Christian | 21,436 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35027 | 27,019 | 0.1 | 0.1 | -5,583 |
Brethren | 17,418 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 35007 | 21,733 | 0.1 | 0.0 | -4,315 |
Other Eastern Orthodox | 16,562 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 35029 | 63,546 | 0.3 | 0.2 | -46,984 |
Paganism | 15,225 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35035 | 16,856 | 0.1 | 0.1 | -1,631 |
Other Oriental Orthodox | 14,338 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35032 | 8,905 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +5,433 |
Baha'i | 13,990 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35005 | 13,700 | 0.1 | 0.1 | +290 |
Assyrian Apostolic | 13,865 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 35003 | 10,589 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +3,276 |
Spiritualism | 10,095 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35042 | 11,554 | 0.1 | 0.0 | -1,459 |
Christadelphian | 10,093 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35010 | 10,654 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -561 |
Chinese and Japanese Religions | 8,160 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 35009 | 6,789 | 0.0 | 0.1 | +1,371 |
Australian Aboriginal Traditional Religions | 8,082 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35004 | 7,312 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +770 |
Armenian Apostolic | 8,027 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35001 | 7,661 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +366 |
Other Nature Religions | 6,889 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35030 | 9,441 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -2,552 |
Wiccan/Witchcraft | 6,608 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35045 | 8,418 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -1,810 |
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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 Australia in 2016 compared to Canberra shows that there was a higher proportion of people who professed a religion and a lower proportion who stated they had no religion.
Overall, 60.4% of the population nominated a religion, and 29.9% said they had no religion, compared with 54.0% and 36.6% respectively for Canberra.
The largest single religion in Australia was Western (Roman) Catholic, with 22.3% of the population or 5,229,667 people as adherents.
The major differences between the religious affiliation for the population of Australia and Canberra were:
- A larger percentage who nominated Anglican (13.3% compared to 10.8%)
- A larger percentage who nominated Uniting Church (3.7% compared to 2.4%)
Emerging groups
The largest changes in the religious affiliation of the population in Australia between 2011 and 2016 were for those who nominated:
- Anglican (-578,500 persons)
- Uniting Church (-195,562 persons)
- Western (Roman) Catholic (-167,514 persons)
- Hinduism (+164,777 persons)