Australian Jewish community grows to nearly 100,000 - census

In the 2021 census, 7,668 Jews said they were born in North Africa and the Middle East, including Israel and Muslim countries such as Iran or Turkey.

 An Australian flag is seen hung in a tree burnt by bushfire on the property of farmer Jeff McCole in Buchan, Victoria, Australia (photo credit: REUTERS/ANDREW KELLY)
An Australian flag is seen hung in a tree burnt by bushfire on the property of farmer Jeff McCole in Buchan, Victoria, Australia
(photo credit: REUTERS/ANDREW KELLY)

Almost 100,000 Jews live in Australia, according to the 2021 census that was published on Tuesday.

In the survey of Australian citizens, 99,956 said they practice Judaism, an increase of 9.8% compared with the 2016 census when 91,023 said they practice Judaism.

The diversity of religious affiliation increased across the Australian population, the census showed.

Religious diversity in Australia

Christianity remained the most common religion, with 43.9% of the population identifying as Christian, down from 52.1% in the 2016 census. The top five religions outside of Christianity were:

  1. Islam
  2. Hinduism
  3. Buddhism
  4. Sikhism
  5. Judaism

Among the respondents, 11,148,814 said they were Christian, 813,392 said they practice Islam, and 684,002 said they practice Hinduism.

The percentage of Australians reporting no religious affiliation increased from 30.1% in the 2016 census to 38.9% in the 2021 census.

The religion question in the census was voluntary, yet 93% of the respondents answered it, up from 91% in 2016.

How was the census prepared?

The census was prepared by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. It provides a snapshot of the cultures and languages that make up Australia by giving data on cultural diversity, country of birth, ancestry and languages used at home.

Almost half of Australians have a parent born overseas (48.2%), and the population continues to be drawn from around the globe, with 27.6% reporting a birthplace overseas, the 2021 census found.

Australia has welcomed more than one million immigrants (1,020,007) since 2017, the survey showed. The largest increase in the country of birth, outside of Australia, was India, with 217,963 additional people counted. India moved past China and New Zealand to become the third-largest country of birth behind Australia and England.


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The second-largest increase in the country of birth was Nepal, with an additional 67,752 people, an increase of 123.7% since 2016.

The top five reported ancestries in the 2021 census followed previous trends and were English (33.0%), Australian (29.9), Irish (9.5%), Scottish (8.6%) and Chinese (5.5%).

Some 87,000 Jews live in New South Wales and Victoria, the census showed.

The total raw number of Jews in the 2011 census was 97,327, Peter Wertheim, co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, said Tuesday.

“In the 2016 census it was 91,023, the first fall recorded in 40 years, which was widely questioned as a product of the flaws in the 2016 census,” he told The Jerusalem Post.

“The total raw number of Jews in the 2021 census was 99,956, a return to the long-term trend and therefore the highest figure ever recorded in a census,” he added.

“This seems to indicate strongly that the criticisms of the 2016 census concerning the count of the Jewish population were valid,” Wertheim said.

“This seems to indicate strongly that the criticisms of the 2016 census concerning the count of the Jewish population were valid.”

Peter Wertheim, co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry

In the 2021 census, 7,668 Jews said they were born in North Africa and the Middle East, including Israel and Muslim countries such as Iran or Turkey, he said.