Social Profile of the Australian Catholic Community
The National Centre for Pastoral Research has published a report providing a snapshot of the millions of people who identified as Catholic in the 2021 Australian Census.
The Social Profile of the Catholic Community in Australia is the latest in a series of reports following each national Census, providing extensive demographic information on Australian Catholics.
Key religious affiliation statistics were released last year. They included the number of Catholics, which fell from around 5.3 million in 2016 to under 5.1 million in 2021. Catholics made up 22.6 percent of the population in 2016; they represented 20 percent of the population in 2021.
There has been a broad shift away from religious identification in Australian society, those figures were not a surprise, although they are disappointing.
The statistics in this report confirm what we are seeing in our parish communities—that they are becoming more and more culturally and linguistically diverse. But it also uncovers information that is less obvious, like the increasing percentage of Catholics attending Catholic schools, the rising educational attainment levels of Catholics, and the changing composition of Catholic households.
Knowing, for example, that 21 percent of those who identify as Catholic were born in a non-English-speaking country—and learning which countries they come from—helps to reach people in their native language.
The national social profile doesn’t capture any information about religious practice.
The Catholic Church in Australia gathers data from a range of sources, and other reports have observed—and future reports will observe—more about the composition of those who attend Mass. However, these national profiles, which have now covered seven Censuses, are extremely helpful in understanding the demographics of the Catholic population and the evolution of the Australian Catholic community over time.
Social profiles for each Australian diocese, and for each parish community, will be published in coming months.
Snapshot of The Catholic Community in Australia (2021)
Total Population: 25,422,788
Catholic Population: 5,075,910
Catholics are 20 percent of the total population
Median age of Catholics: 43 years
Total Catholic families: 1,995,658
493,225 Catholics live alone
1,369,744 Catholics were born overseas
134,718 Catholics do not speak English well
342,034 Catholics need assistance with core activities
1,757,245 Catholics have changed address since 2016
Snapshot of The Catholic Community in Australia (2021)
Further information on the Social Profile of the Catholic Community in Australia can be found at www.ncpr.catholic.org.au.