According to rahyafte (the missionaries and converts website): The latest census figures reveal the Muslim population in Australia has soared to more than 604,000 people, overtaking Buddhism as the most popular non-Christian religion.
The number of Muslims living in the country has almost doubled from 341,000 in the the 2006 census.
The surge in the number of Muslims comes as the Census revealed an additional 2.2 million people registered as having no religion – surpassing Catholicism as the country’s most popular religious affiliation.
Data from the 2016 census, released on Tuesday, shows 30 per cent of Australians identified as having no religion, compared with 22 per cent in the 2011 census and almost 19 per cent in 2006.
Out of Australia’s population of 23.4 million people, 7,040,700 people identify as having no religion.
Catholics make up just over 22 per cent – or 5.2 million people – followed by 3.8 million Christians – or 16.3 per cent.
Residents aged between 18 and 34 years were more likely to affiliate with no religion than to Christianity, the Census revealed.
One the other hand, about 70 percent of people over the age of 65 reported themselves and Christians.
From 2006 to 2016, the proportion of people reporting a religion other than Christianity in the Census increased from 5.6 per cent to 8.2 percent, the census shows.
Dropping from 2.5 per cent to 2.4 per cent, Buddhism fell to the second spot as Islam rose to the top with 2.6 per cent of the population.
Source: www.dailymail.co.uk
