Australia's major religion is Christianity with the major denominations, in order of size, being Catholic, Anglican, Uniting Church, Eastern Orthodox, Presbyterian and Reformed, Baptist and Pentecostal. 30% of the Australian population reported that they were either Anglican or Catholic in the 2021 Census.
Christianity (43.9%) No religion (38.9%) Islam (3.2%)
Australians' religion
The fastest-growing religions, according to the latest census, are Hinduism (2.7 per cent of the population) and Islam (3.2 per cent), though these worshippers remain small minorities. The 2021 census was also the first to collect data since same-sex marriages were allowed in Australia.
According to NORC of Chicago, 20.6% of Australians don't believe in God and never have, while 9.7% are "strong atheists".
These statistics highlight an increasing rate of decline in Christianity and a trend that has continued since the 1960s. In 1971, Christians represented 86.2% of the Australian population. In 2021, Christians were down to 43.9% of the population.
As Professor Riaz Hassan and his team at the Hawke's International Centre for Muslim and non-Muslim Understanding expertly identify, Muslims currently constitute 2.2% of the Australian population, and it is estimated there will be almost one million more Muslims in Australia by 2050.
Islam has grown to 813,392 people, which is 3.2 per cent of the Australian population.
Religion in Australia
No religion – 30.1% Catholic – 22.6% Anglican – 13.3% Uniting Church – 3.7%
Modern growth. Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the world. In 1990, 1.1 billion people were Muslims, while in 2010, 1.6 billion people were Muslims.
There are various polytheistic religions practiced today, for example; Hinduism, Shintoism, thelema, Wicca, druidism, Taoism, Asatru and Candomble.
Majority believe in God
Not only does most of Australia identify with Christianity, but more than half (55%) of the population believes in God, as defined as the Creator of the universe, the Supreme Being.
Most common religions in 2021 Census
But as Christianity declines, the number of Australians who follow other faiths including Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism are on the rise.
Today Russian Orthodoxy is the country's largest religious denomination, representing more than half of all adherents.
With an influx of migrants from Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and Bangladesh over the last five years, migration has been a contributor to Australia's biggest minority religion: Islam.
Lebanese Muslims form the core of Australia's Muslim Arab population, particularly in Sydney where most Arabs in Australia live. Approximately 3.4% of Sydney's population are Muslim.
Arab Australians are mainly concentrated in Victoria and New South Wales. Smaller groups also reside in Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia, with fewer in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory.
Hinduism had the most significant growth between 2006 and 2016, driven by immigration from South Asia. The growing percentage of Australia's population reporting no religion has been a trend for decades, and is accelerating.
Although Islam is a minority religion in Russia, Russia has the largest Muslim population in Europe. According to the US Department of State in 2017, Muslims in Russia numbered 14 million or roughly 10% of the total population.
Beginning in the early nineteenth century, Protestant missionaries attracted small but influential followings, and independent Chinese churches were also established. It is estimated that Christianity is the fastest growing religion in China.
For more than a decade the number of people identifying as Catholic has been in decline, and from 2011 to 2016, the number of people identifying as atheist rose by a staggering 48 per cent. 'We are seeing a decline, but this is true of mainline Protestant denominations as well.
While Christianity is currently the predominant religion in Latin America, Europe, Canada and the United States, the religion is declining in many of these areas, including Western Europe, North America, and Oceania.
Christianity was introduced with the European settlement of Australia in 1788. During the 19th century European settlers brought their own traditional Christian denominations to Australia. Patterns of migration over two centuries have shaped the profile of Christian affiliations in Australia.