Powered by .id (informed decisions) for Western Australia Parliamentary Library
.id community is an evidence base for over 250 local government areas in Australia and New Zealand, helping you make informed decisions.
LEARN MORE ABOUT .idIn East Metropolitan Region in 2021, the largest religious group was Western (Roman) Catholic (19.2% of all people), while 40.0% of people had no religion and 6.7% did not answer the question on religion.
East Metropolitan Region'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.
East Metropolitan Region'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 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Metropolitan Region - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2021 | 2016 | Change | ||||
| Religion totals | Number | % | Metropolitan District % | Number | % | Metropolitan District % | 2016 to 2021 |
| Christian total | 267,096 | 41.1 | 41.7 | 294,477 | 49.0 | 49.4 | -27,381 |
| Non Christian total | 74,836 | 11.5 | 9.7 | 60,673 | 10.1 | 8.4 | +14,163 |
| Non-classifiable religious belief | 4,178 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 4,024 | 0.7 | 0.6 | +154 |
| No Religion/secular beliefs | 259,651 | 40.0 | 41.8 | 185,322 | 30.8 | 32.4 | +74,329 |
| Not stated | 43,823 | 6.7 | 6.2 | 57,032 | 9.5 | 9.1 | -13,209 |
| Total Population | 649,584 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 601,528 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +48,056 |
| Religion - Ranked by size | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Metropolitan Region - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2021 | 2016 | Change | ||||
| Religion | Number | % | Metropolitan District % | Number | % | Metropolitan District % | 2016 to 2021 |
| Western (Roman) Catholic | 124,456 | 19.2 | 19.6 | 131,555 | 21.9 | 22.2 | -7,099 |
| Anglican | 57,081 | 8.8 | 9.6 | 75,995 | 12.6 | 13.4 | -18,914 |
| Islam | 28,895 | 4.4 | 3.1 | 21,917 | 3.6 | 2.5 | +6,978 |
| Christian,nfd | 24,627 | 3.8 | 3.5 | 19,006 | 3.2 | 3.1 | +5,621 |
| Buddhism | 18,080 | 2.8 | 2.6 | 16,921 | 2.8 | 2.5 | +1,159 |
| Hinduism | 14,731 | 2.3 | 2.4 | 11,323 | 1.9 | 2.0 | +3,408 |
| Baptist | 11,789 | 1.8 | 1.6 | 11,285 | 1.9 | 1.7 | +504 |
| Presbyterian and Reformed | 8,179 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 10,314 | 1.7 | 1.8 | -2,135 |
| Uniting Church | 7,679 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 9,968 | 1.7 | 2.0 | -2,289 |
| Pentecostal | 7,338 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 6,676 | 1.1 | 1.1 | +662 |
Show all (40 entries)
Dominant groups
Analysis of the religious affiliation of the population of East Metropolitan Region in 2021 compared to the Metropolitan District shows that there was a higher proportion of people who professed a religion and a lower proportion who stated they had no religion.
Overall, 52.6% of the population nominated a religion, and 40.0% said they had no religion, compared with 51.4% and 41.8% respectively for the Metropolitan District.
The largest single religion in East Metropolitan Region was Western (Roman) Catholic, with 19.2% of the population or 124,456 people as adherents.
The major difference between the religious affiliation for the population of East Metropolitan Region and the Metropolitan District was:
- A larger percentage who nominated Islam (4.4% compared to 3.1%)
Emerging groups
The largest changes in the religious affiliation of the population in East Metropolitan Region between 2016 and 2021 were for those who nominated:
- Anglican (-18,914 persons)
- Western (Roman) Catholic (-7,099 persons)
- Islam (+6,978 persons)
- Christian,nfd (+5,621 persons)
DISCLAIMER: While all due care has been taken to ensure that the content of this website is accurate and current, there may be errors or omissions in it and no legal responsibility is accepted for the information and opinions in this website.
Please view our Privacy Policy, Terms of use and Legal notices.
ABS Data and the copyright in the ABS Data remains the property of the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The copyright in the way .id has modified, transformed or reconfigured the ABS Data as published on this website remains the property of .id. ABS Data can be accessed from the Australian Bureau of Statistics at www.abs.gov.au. ABS data can be used under license - terms published on ABS website. intermediary.management@abs.gov.au if you have any queries or wish to distribute any ABS data.