Demographics of Sydney

Map of the median age of Sydney residents by Postal Area in the 2011 census

Sydney is Australia's most populous city, and is also the most populous city in Oceania. In the 2016 census, 5,005,400 persons declared themselves as residents of the Sydney Statistical Division–about one-fifth (19.41%) 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 35 years, and households comprised an average of 2.7 members.

History

See also: History of Sydney

Sydney population by year
1796	2,953
1828	10,815
1833	16,232
1836	19,729
1841	29,973
1846	38,358
1851	44,240
1856	53,358
1911	629,503
1954	1,863,217
1961	2,183,231
1971	2,807,828
1981	3,204,696
1991	3,672,855
1996	3,881,136
2001	4,128,272
2006	4,281,988
2011	4,627,345
2016	5,005,400

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.

The Great Synagogue of Sydney, constructed in 1878

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 helped pave the way for further urban development north of Sydney Harbour. Post-war immigration and a baby boom helped the population reach two million by 1962. Sydney remained Australia's most populous city throughout the 20th century, and is projected to retain this position for much of the 21st century.

At the June 2016 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.

Multiculturalism

Country of Birth (2016)

Birthplace	Population
Australia	2,752,119
Mainland China	224,685
United Kingdom	151,614
India	130,573
New Zealand	86,526
Vietnam	81,045
Philippines	75,480
Lebanon	55,979
South Korea	49,508
Hong Kong	40,577
Italy	40,492
Iraq	39,237
South Africa	35,313
Fiji	31,510
Nepal	30,424
Indonesia	29,989
Malaysia	21,211

Most immigrants to Sydney between 1840 and 1930 were British, Irish or Chinese. At the 2016 census, the most commonly nominated ancestries were:

• English (27%)
• Australian (25%)
• Chinese (10.8%)
• Irish (9.2%)
• Scottish (6.8%)
• Italian (4.5%)
• Indian (4.3%)
• Lebanese (3.5%)
• German (2.7%)
• Greek (2.6%)
• Vietnamese (2.3%)
• Filipino (2.3%)
• Indigenous (1.5%)
• Korean (1.4%)
• Maltese (1.3%)

At the 2016 census, there were 2,071,872 people living in Sydney that were born overseas, accounting for 42.9% of the population Sydney, above Vancouver (42.5%), Los Angeles (37.7%), New York City (37.5%), Chicago (20.7%%), Paris (14.6%) and Berlin (13%). Only 33.1% 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, England, India, New Zealand, Vietnam and the Philippines.

38.2% of people in Sydney speak a language other than English at home with Mandarin (4.7%), Arabic (4.0%), Cantonese (2.9%), Vietnamese (2.1%) and Greek (1.6%) the most widely spoken.

1.5% of the population, or 70,135 people, identified as Indigenous Australians (Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders) in 2016.

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. There is a Romani community in Sydney.

The most common languages spoken at home are English (the sole language of 60.8% of the population), Arabic (spoken by 4.4%), Cantonese (3.4%), Mandarin (2.6%), Greek (2.2%) and Vietnamese (2.0%).

Religion

At the 2006 Census, the most common responses for religion were Catholic (29.2%), Anglican (16.5%), Eastern Orthodox (4.8%) and Islam (4.4%). 14.1% declared no religious affiliation. 10.4% left the question blank, 3.7% were Buddhists, 1.7% were Hindu, 0.9% were Jewish.

The 2011 Census most common responses were Catholic, (28.3%), Anglican (14.7%), Islam (5.3%) and Eastern Orthodox (4.6%). 17.5% declared no religion.

In 2016, the most common responses for religion in Greater Sydney were Catholic 25.1%, No Religion, so described 24.6%, Anglican 12.0%, Not stated 8.8% and Islam 5.3%.

See also

• Demographics of Australia
• Immigration to Australia
• List of population demographics of New South Wales by local government area