Greater Perth
Religion
In Greater Perth in 2021, the largest religious group was Western (Roman) Catholic (19.4% of all people), while 42.0% of people had no religion and 6.2% did not answer the question on religion.
Greater Perth'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.
Greater Perth'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 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greater Perth - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2021 | 2006 | Change | |||||
| Religion totals | Number | % | Australia % | Number | % | Australia % | 2006 to 2021 | |
| Christian total | 884,225 | 41.8 | 43.9 | 35500 | 906,049 | 59.9 | 63.9 | -21,824 |
| Non Christian total | 198,130 | 9.4 | 10.0 | 35501 | 75,583 | 5.0 | 5.6 | +122,547 |
| Non-classifiable religious belief | 12,735 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 35502 | 11,352 | 0.8 | 0.7 | +1,383 |
| No Religion/secular beliefs | 889,964 | 42.0 | 38.7 | 35503 | 336,234 | 22.2 | 18.7 | +553,730 |
| Not stated | 131,602 | 6.2 | 6.9 | 35504 | 182,868 | 12.1 | 11.2 | -51,266 |
| Total Population | 2,116,656 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 1,512,086 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +604,570 | |
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing (opens a new window) 2006 and 2021. Compiled and presented by .id (opens a new window)(informed decisions).
(Usual residence data)
| Religion - Ranked by size | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greater Perth - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2021 | 2006 | Change | |||||
| Religion | Number | % | Australia % | Number | % | Australia % | 2006 to 2021 | |
| Western (Roman) Catholic | 410,646 | 19.4 | 19.6 | 35044 | 372,207 | 24.6 | 25.6 | +38,439 |
| Anglican | 208,870 | 9.9 | 9.8 | 35000 | 305,050 | 20.2 | 18.7 | -96,180 |
| Christian,nfd | 72,877 | 3.4 | 2.7 | 35011 | 31,803 | 2.1 | 1.6 | +41,074 |
| Islam | 62,899 | 3.0 | 3.2 | 35017 | 22,136 | 1.5 | 1.7 | +40,763 |
| Buddhism | 52,999 | 2.5 | 2.4 | 35008 | 31,765 | 2.1 | 2.1 | +21,234 |
| Hinduism | 49,662 | 2.3 | 2.7 | 35016 | 7,666 | 0.5 | 0.7 | +41,996 |
| Baptist | 33,850 | 1.6 | 1.4 | 35006 | 24,787 | 1.6 | 1.6 | +9,063 |
| Uniting Church | 31,055 | 1.5 | 2.6 | 35043 | 52,999 | 3.5 | 5.7 | -21,944 |
| Presbyterian and Reformed | 28,416 | 1.3 | 1.6 | 35036 | 35,168 | 2.3 | 3.0 | -6,752 |
| Pentecostal | 23,823 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 35033 | 14,466 | 1.0 | 1.1 | +9,357 |
| Sikhism | 17,990 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 35041 | 1,349 | 0.1 | 0.1 | +16,641 |
| Greek Orthodox | 13,047 | 0.6 | 1.5 | 35015 | 12,316 | 0.8 | 1.9 | +731 |
| Other Protestant | 12,787 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 35034 | 4,877 | 0.3 | 0.3 | +7,910 |
| Jehova's Witnesses | 8,261 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 35018 | 7,892 | 0.5 | 0.4 | +369 |
| Judaism | 5,424 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 35019 | 5,119 | 0.3 | 0.4 | +305 |
| Churches of Christ | 5,293 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 35013 | 6,415 | 0.4 | 0.3 | -1,122 |
| Seventh Day Adventist | 4,758 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 35040 | 3,501 | 0.2 | 0.3 | +1,257 |
| Latter Day Saints (Mormons) | 4,719 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 35020 | 4,435 | 0.3 | 0.3 | +284 |
| Macedonian Orthodox | 4,570 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 35022 | 4,260 | 0.3 | 0.2 | +310 |
| Lutheran | 4,467 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 35021 | 8,748 | 0.6 | 1.3 | -4,281 |
| Serbian Orthodox | 4,254 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 35039 | 3,128 | 0.2 | 0.2 | +1,126 |
| Other Non-Christian Religions | 2,342 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 35031 | 1,597 | 0.1 | 0.1 | +745 |
| Salvation Army | 2,251 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35038 | 4,169 | 0.3 | 0.3 | -1,918 |
| Baha'i | 2,178 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35005 | 1,770 | 0.1 | 0.1 | +408 |
| Other Oriental Orthodox | 1,901 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35032 | 422 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +1,479 |
| Other Christian | 1,887 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35027 | 1,928 | 0.1 | 0.1 | -41 |
| Paganism | 1,506 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35035 | 1,116 | 0.1 | 0.1 | +390 |
| Brethren | 1,267 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35007 | 1,501 | 0.1 | 0.1 | -234 |
| Other Eastern Catholic | 1,234 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35028 | 258 | 0.0 | 0.1 | +976 |
| Coptic Orthodox | 1,229 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35014 | 610 | 0.0 | 0.1 | +619 |
| Russian Orthodox | 1,196 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 35037 | 817 | 0.1 | 0.1 | +379 |
| Spiritualism | 1,028 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35042 | 1,219 | 0.1 | 0.0 | -191 |
| Chinese and Japanese Religions | 737 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35009 | 436 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +301 |
| Wiccan/Witchcraft | 732 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35045 | 780 | 0.1 | 0.0 | -48 |
| Other Eastern Orthodox | 667 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 35029 | 3,432 | 0.2 | 0.3 | -2,765 |
| Christadelphian | 660 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35010 | 727 | 0.0 | 0.1 | -67 |
| Other Nature Religions | 507 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35030 | 548 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -41 |
| Australian Aboriginal Traditional Religions | 126 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35004 | 82 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +44 |
| Maronite Catholic | 111 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 35023 | 24 | 0.0 | 0.1 | +87 |
| Armenian Apostolic | 95 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 35001 | 90 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +5 |
| Assyrian Apostolic | 34 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 35003 | 19 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +15 |
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Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing (opens a new window) 2006 and 2021. 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 Greater Perth in 2021 compared to Australia shows that there was a lower proportion of people who professed a religion and a higher proportion who stated they had no religion.
Overall, 51.1% of the population nominated a religion, and 42.0% said they had no religion, compared with 53.8% and 38.7% respectively for Australia.
The largest single religion in Greater Perth was Western (Roman) Catholic, with 19.4% of the population or 410,646 people as adherents.
The major difference between the religious affiliation for the population of Greater Perth and Australia was:
- A smaller percentage who nominated Uniting Church (1.5% compared to 2.6%)
Emerging groups
The largest changes in the religious affiliation of the population in Greater Perth between 2006 and 2021 were for those who nominated:
- Anglican (-96,180 persons)
- Hinduism (+41,996 persons)
- Christian,nfd (+41,074 persons)
- Islam (+40,763 persons)