Demographics of Sydney

Sydney is Australia's most populous city, and is also the most populous city in Oceania. In the 2021 census, 5,231,147 persons declared themselves as residents of the Sydney Statistical Division–about one-fifth (20.58%) of Australia's total population. With a population density of 2037 people per square kilometre, the urban core has population density five times that of the greater region.

Sydney is the most densely populated city in Australia and is also the busiest city in Australia. The median age of Sydney residents was 37 years, and households comprised an average of 2.7 members."2032.0 - Census of Population and Housing: Australia in Profile -- A Regional Analysis, 2001", Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2004-01-16

History

Sydneypopulation by year1796 2,953 Table 1. Population by sex, states and territories, 31 December 1788 onwards182810,815183316,232183619,729184129,973184638,358185144,240185653,3581911 629,503 1921 899,099 1933 1,235,367 1947 1,484,434 1954 1,863,217 1961 2,183,2311971 2,807,8281981 3,204,6961991 3,672,8551996 3,881,1362001 4,128,2722006 4,281,9882011 4,627,345 2016 4,823,991 2021 5,231,147

European settlement in Sydney began in 1788, and in 1800 Sydney had around 3,000 non-indigenous inhabitants. It took time for the city's population to grow–in 1851 its population was only 39,000, compared with 77,000 in Melbourne. The subsequent gold rushes in Victoria caused the population of Melbourne to increase rapidly, while the lesser gold rushes in New South Wales had a less profound effect on the population of Sydney.

Sydney overtook Melbourne as Australia's most populous city in the early twentieth century, and reached the million inhabitants milestone around 1925. The opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1932 helped pave the way for further urban development north of Sydney Harbour. Post-war immigration and a baby boom helped the population reach 2 million by 1962. Sydney remained Australia's most populous city throughout the 20th century, and is projected to retain this position until between 2032 and 2046.

At the August 2021 Australian census, Sydney's population reached 5 million people.

Density

Sydney is particularly noted for its low population density, due to its history. Surrounded by land that was considered unowned by the city's founders, early Sydney enjoyed relatively low land values. Coupled with successive governments' willingness to release new land on the city's outskirts for further development, this history has given Sydney a low-density self-image.1217.0.55.001 - Glossary of Statistical Geography Terminology, 2003, Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2003

Multiculturalism

+ Country of birth (2021) Birthplace Population Australia 2,970,737 Mainland China 238,316 India187,810 England 153,052 Vietnam93,778 Philippines91,339 New Zealand 85,493 Lebanon 61,620 Nepal 59,055 Iraq 52,604 South Korea 50,702 Hong Kong SAR 46,182 South Africa 39,564 Italy 38,762 Indonesia 35,413 Malaysia 35,002 Fiji 34,197 Pakistan 31,025

Most immigrants to Sydney between 1840 and 1930 were British and Irish. At the 2021 census, the most commonly nominated ancestries were:

At the 2021 census, there were 2,260,410 people living in Sydney that were born overseas, accounting for 43.2% of the population of Sydney, above Vancouver (42.5%), Los Angeles (37.7%), New York City (37.5%), Chicago (20.7%), Paris (14.6%) and Berlin (13%). Only 31.0% of the population had both parents born in Australia. Sydney has the eighth-largest immigrant population among world metropolitan areas. Foreign countries of birth with the greatest representation are Mainland China, India, England, Vietnam and the Philippines.

42.0% of people in Sydney speak a language other than English at home with Mandarin (5.0%), Arabic (4.2%), Cantonese (2.8%), Vietnamese (2.2%) and Hindi (1.5%) the most widely spoken.

1.7% of the population, or 90,939 people, identified as Indigenous Australians (Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders) in 2021.

Sydney has been a hub of a number of migrant communities, such as the Lebanese, Fijian, Korean and Nepalese. Well over half of Australia's 25,000-strong Nepalese community, for example, is concentrated in Sydney. Seven out of every ten Lebanese migrants in Australia live in Sydney. The Ghanaian community has been noted as being quite visible in Sydney, with the number of Ghanaian churches being unusually large considering the relatively small number of Ghanaians in Australia. Furthermore, the suburb of Fairfield in the Greater Western Sydney area, is an ethnic enclave of Assyrian Christians, where they are the largest ethnic group in the suburb and also in the surrounding areas of Fairfield Heights, Prairiewood and Greenfield Park.B. Furze, P. Savy, R. Brym, J. Lie, Sociology in Today's World, 2008, p. 349 There is a Romani community in Sydney.

In 1947, 12.8% were foreign born in Sydney, which had risen to 22.1% in 1966. In 1971, 37.6% of Sydney were either the children of immigrants (12.7%) or immigrants themselves (24.9%).

Religion As of the 2021 Census, the most common responses for religion in Greater Sydney were Christian (45.8%), Islam (6.3%), Hinduism (4.8%), and Buddhism (3.8%). Among those who identified as Christian, the most common denominations were Catholic (22.1%) and Anglican (9.2%), with 2.5% of responders answering 'Christian: Not further defined'.

The proportion of people who were not religious or had secular beliefs was 30.5%, up from 24.9% five years prior.

+ Major religious groups in Sydney (2021) Religion Totalpopulation % oftotal Christianity 2,394,622 45.8% Islam 329,566 6.3% Hinduism 253,210 4.8% Buddhism 200,547 3.8% Sikhism 38,713 0.7% Judaism 37,879 0.7% Non-classifiable religious belief 23,803 0.5% No religion/secular beliefs 1,597,467 30.5% Not stated 326,469 6.2% Total population 5,231,144 100%

Demographics of Sydney

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