More than half of Australia's population is Christian but Islam (still a minority) has emerged as the most common religion after Christianity, according to the 2016 Census data.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, in the 10 years from 2006 to 2016, the proportion of people reporting a religion other than Christianity in the Census increased from 5.6 per cent in 2006 to 8.2 per cent in 2016.
Although the increase was spread across most of the non-Christian religions, the top two were Islam (1.7 per cent to 2.6 per cent) and Hinduism (0.7 per cent in 2006 to 1.9 per cent in 2016).
More than half the people living in Australia are Christians Source: ABS
Pakistan was the top contributor of Muslims in Australia (14.7 per cent), followed by Afghanistan (11.5 per cent).
The 'No Religion' count increased to almost a third of the Australian population between 2011 and 2016 (22 per cent to 30 per cent).
Pakistan was the top contributor of Muslims in Australia (14.7 per cent), followed by Afghanistan (11.5 per cent). Source: ABS
Furthermore, in 2016, Sikhs had the youngest age profile with almost three quarters (74 per cent) aged less than 35 years. Islam and Hinduism also had a young age profile with 66 per cent and 64 per cent respectively under the age of 35.
The number of Pakistani-born Australians has also doubled in the last five years.
Pakistan was the top contributor of Muslims in Australia Source: ABS
The population of Pakistani-Australians stood at 61,913 (37,720 males and 24,195 females) in 2016, an increase from 30,221 noted in the 2011 Census.
The population of Pakistani-Australians stood at 61,913 (37,720 males and 24,195 females) in 2016, an increase from 30,221 noted in the 2011 Census
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, in terms of Australia's population growth, for the top 50 countries of birth (excluding Australia) at 30 June 2016, persons born in Nepal had the highest rate of increase between 2006 and 2016 with an average annual growth rate of 27.8 per cent.
However, this growth began from a small base of 4,400 persons at 30 June 2006.
In terms of population growth, the second fastest increase between 2006 and 2016 was in the number of persons born in Pakistan
The second fastest increase over this period was in the number of persons born in Pakistan (13.2 per cent per year on average), followed by those born in Brazil (12.1 per cent), India (10.7 per cent) and Bangladesh (8.9 per cent).
In the last few years Australia has welcomed more Pakistanis than ever before. In 2011, 3,775 Pakistanis arrived in Australia; 5,893 arrived in 2012; 6,347 in 2013; 6,355 in 2014; and 6,313 in 2015.
Of the top 50 countries of birth, the fastest decline was for persons born in Malta, with an average annual decrease of 1.5 per cent, followed by persons born in Poland (1.3 per cent).
