Editing New South Wales (section)

== Demographics ==
{{See also|Demographics of Sydney|List of population demographics of New South Wales by local government area|Demographics of Australia}}

[[File:New South Wales Population June 1981 to June 2016.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.4|The estimated resident population since 1981]]
The estimated population of New South Wales at the end of December 2021 was 8,095,430 people, representing approximately 31.42% of nationwide population.<ref name=ABSPop/>

In June 2017 Sydney was home to almost two-thirds (65.3%) of the NSW population.<ref name="ABSCapitalPop">{{cite web |date=24 April 2018 |title=3218.0 – Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2016–17: Main Features |url=http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/3218.0Main+Features12016-17 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181013133101/http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/3218.0Main+Features12016-17 |archive-date=13 October 2018 |access-date=13 October 2018 |website=Australian Bureau of Statistics |publisher=[[Australian Bureau of Statistics]]}} Estimated resident population, 30 June 2017.</ref>

===Cities and towns===
{{multiple image
| align             = right
| direction         = vertical<!-- | header       = New South Wales' largest cities| header_align = center -->
| width             = 220
| image1            = Skylines of Sydney CBD seen from North Sydney, August 2022, 04.jpg
| alt1              = 
| caption1          = [[Sydney]] is Australia's most populous city.
| image2            = Newcastle - aerial images (3) (7445134654).jpg
| alt2              = 
| caption2          = [[Newcastle, New South Wales|Newcastle]]
| image3            = Mt Keira views 2017 - Wollongong Central.jpg
| alt3              = 
| caption3          = [[Wollongong]]
| alt4              = 
| total_width       = 
}}
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:right"
|+Population by Statistical Area Level 4 and 3
|-
! scope="col" | NSW rank
! scope="col" | Statistical Area Level 2
! scope="col" | Population<br />(30 June 2014)<ref name="3218.0">{{cite web |publisher=Australian Bureau of Statistics |title=3218.0 – Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2013–14 |url=http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/3218.02013-14?OpenDocument |date=31 March 2015 |access-date=20 December 2018 |archive-date=20 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181220230833/http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/3218.02013-14?OpenDocument |url-status=live }}</ref>
! scope="col" | 10-year growth rate
! scope="col" | Population density (people/km<sup>2</sup>)
|-
| scope="row" | 1
| style="text-align:left" | Greater [[Sydney]]
| 4,940,628
| 15.7
| 397.4
|-
| scope="row" | 2
| style="text-align:left" | {{NSWcity|Newcastle}} and [[City of Lake Macquarie|Lake Macquarie]]
| 368,131
| 9.0
| 423.1
|-
| scope="row" | 3
| style="text-align:left" | [[Illawarra]]
| 296,845
| 9.3
| 192.9
|-
| scope="row" | 4
| style="text-align:left" | [[Hunter Region|Hunter Valley]] excluding Newcastle
| 264,087
| 16.2
| 12.3
|-
| scope="row" | 5
| style="text-align:left" | [[Northern Rivers|Richmond Tweed]]
| 242,116
| 8.9
| 23.6
|-
| scope="row" | 6
| style="text-align:left" | Capital region
| 220,944
| 10.9
| 4.3
|-
| scope="row" | 7
| style="text-align:left" | [[Mid North Coast]]
| 212,787
| 9.2
| 11.3
|-
| scope="row" | 8
| style="text-align:left" | [[Central West (New South Wales)|Central West]]
| 209,850
| 7.9
| 3.0
|-
| scope="row" | 9
| style="text-align:left" | New England and North West
| 186,262
| 5.3
| 1.9
|-
| scope="row" | 10
| style="text-align:left" | [[Riverina]]
| 158,144
| 4.7
| 2.8
|-
| scope="row" | 11
| style="text-align:left" | Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven
| 146,388
| 10.4
| 21.8
|-
| scope="row" | 12
| style="text-align:left" | Coffs Harbour-Grafton
| 136,418
| 7.6
| 10.3
|-
| scope="row" | 13
| style="text-align:left" | Far West and Orana
| 119,742
| 0.3
| 0.4
|-
| scope="row" | 14
| style="text-align:left" | Murray
| 116,130
| 4.0
| 1.2
|-
| scope="row" |
| style="text-align:left" | New South Wales
| 7,518,472
| 10.4
| 13.0
|}
<!-- Before changing ANY population figures in this section, please ensure that you have provided appropriate citations to support the claim. -->
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:right"
|+Population by Significant Urban Area
|-
! scope="col" | NSW rank
! scope="col" | Significant Urban Area
! scope="col" | Population<br />(30 June 2018/[[2021 Australian census|2021 Census]])<ref name="3218.0a">{{cite web |publisher=Australian Bureau of Statistics |title=3218.0 – Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2017–18 |url=http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/3218.02017-18?OpenDocument |date=27 March 2019 |access-date=28 December 2019 |archive-date=16 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200316154835/https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/3218.02017-18?OpenDocument |url-status=live }}</ref>
! scope="col" | Australia rank
! scope="col" | 10-year growth rate
|-
| scope="row" | 1
| [[Sydney]]
| 4,835,206
| 1
| 19.3
|-
|–
|[[Gold Coast, Queensland|Gold Coast]] – [[Tweed Heads, New South Wales|Tweed Heads]]
|654,073
|6
|–
|-
| scope="row" | 2
| {{NSWcity|Newcastle}} – {{NSWcity|Maitland}}
| 505,489
| 7
| 11.3
|-
| scope="row" | 3
| [[Gosford]] ([[Central Coast (New South Wales)|Central Coast]])
| 338,567
| 9
| 19.5
|-
| scope="row" | 4
| [[Wollongong]]
| 312,167
| 11
| 11.2
|-
| scope="row" | –
| [[Albury, New South Wales|Albury]] – [[Wodonga]]
| 97,274<!-- This figure includes Wodonga in Victoria. -->
| 20
| 14.9
|-
| scope="row" | 5
| [[Coffs Harbour]]
| 71,822
| 25
| 11.8
|-
| scope="row" | 6
| [[Wagga Wagga]]
| 67,609
| 28
| 6.7
|-
|7
|[[Albury]]
|56,093
|30
|14.9
|-
| scope="row" | 8
| [[Port Macquarie, New South Wales|Port Macquarie]]
| 47,973
| 33
| 15.6
|-
| scope="row" | 9
| [[Tamworth, New South Wales|Tamworth]]
| 42,872
| 34
| 10.9
|-
| scope="row" | 10
| [[Orange, New South Wales|Orange]]
| 40,493
| 36
| 12.9
|-
| scope="row" | 11
| [[Bowral]] – [[Mittagong]]
| 39,887
| 37
| 13.5
|-
| scope="row" | 12
| [[Dubbo, New South Wales|Dubbo]]
| 38,392
| 39
| 12.2
|-
| scope="row" | 13
| [[Nowra, New South Wales|Nowra]] – [[Bomaderry, New South Wales|Bomaderry]]
| 37,420
| 42
| 14
|-
| scope="row" | 14
| [[Bathurst, New South Wales|Bathurst]]
| 33,801
| 43
| 15.0
|-
| scope="row" | 15
| [[Lismore, New South Wales|Lismore]]
| 28,720
| 49
| −0.9
|-
| scope="row" | 16
| [[Nelson Bay, New South Wales|Nelson Bay]]
| 28,051
| 50
| 13.2
|-
|17
|[[Tweed Heads, New South Wales|Tweed Heads–]] [[Tweed Heads South, New South Wales|Tweed Heads South]]
|
|
|
|-
| scope="row" | 18
| [[Taree]]
| 26,448
| 55
| 2.3
|-
| scope="row" | 19
| [[Ballina, New South Wales|Ballina]]
| 26,381
| 55
| 10.1
|-
| scope="row" | 20
| {{NSWcity|Morisset}} – {{NSWcity|Cooranbong}}
| 25,309
| 57
| 15.1
|-
| scope="row" | 21
| [[Armidale]]
| 24,504
| 58
| 7.0
|-
| scope="row" | 22
| [[Goulburn]]
| 23,835
| 59
| 12
|-
| scope="row" | 23
| {{NSWcity|Forster}} – {{NSWcity|Tuncurry}}
| 21,159
| 65
| 7.3
|-
| scope="row" | 24
| [[Griffith, New South Wales|Griffith]]
| 20,251
| 66
| 11.5
|-
| scope="row" | 25
| {{NSWcity|St Georges Basin}} – {{NSWcity|Sanctuary Point}}
| 19,251
| 68
| 19.1
|-
| scope="row" | 26
| [[Grafton, New South Wales|Grafton]]
| 19,078
| 69
| 3.5
|-
| scope="row" | 27
| [[Camden Haven]]
| 17,835
| 73
| 12.4
|-
| scope="row" | 28
| [[Broken Hill]]
| 17,734
| 74
| −9.5
|-
| scope="row" | 29
| [[Batemans Bay]]
| 16,485
| 78
| 4.4
|-
| scope="row" | 30
| [[Singleton, New South Wales|Singleton]]
| 16,346
| 79
| −0.6
|-
| scope="row" | 31
| [[Ulladulla]]
| 16,213
| 81
| 11.8
|-
| scope="row" | 32
| [[Kempsey, New South Wales|Kempsey]]
| 15,309
| 84
| 5.8
|-
| scope="row" | 33
| [[Lithgow, New South Wales|Lithgow]]
| 12,973
| 93
| 4.8
|-
| scope="row" | 34
| [[Mudgee]]
| 12,410
| 95
| 21.5
|-
| scope="row" | 35
| [[Muswellbrook]]
| 12,364
| 96
| 5.0
|-
| scope="row" | 36
| [[Parkes, New South Wales|Parkes]]
| 11,224
| 98
| 2.1
|-
| scope="row" colspan="2" | New South Wales
| 7,480,228
| {{N/a}}
| 17.6
|}

===Ancestry and immigration===
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right;"
|+ Country of Birth (2021){{NoteTag|Only the top 12 most common birthplaces are listed in this table.}}<ref name="censusdata.abs.gov.au">{{cite web |url = https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/community-profiles/2021/1 |website = Australian Bureau of Statistics |title = 2021 New South Wales, Census Community Profile |access-date = 2 August 2022 |archive-date = 9 August 2022 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220809010331/https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/community-profiles/2021/1 |url-status = live }}</ref>
! Birthplace{{NoteTag|In accordance with the [[Australian Bureau of Statistics]] source, [[England]], [[Scotland]], [[Mainland China]] and the Special Administrative Regions of [[Hong Kong]] and [[Macau]] are listed separately.}} !! Population
|-
| {{flagicon|Australia}} [[Australia]]{{NoteTag|Does not include [[Norfolk Island]] or other Australian External Territories.}} ||5,277,497 
|-
| {{flagicon|China}} [[China]] ||247,595 <!-- Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau SARs are listed separately as per the source. Do not combine -->
|-
| {{flagicon|England}} [[England]] ||231,385 <!-- England and Scotland are listed separately as per the source. Do not combine -->
|-
| {{flagicon|India}} [[India]] ||208,962
|-
| {{flagicon|New Zealand}} [[New Zealand]] ||118,527
|-
| {{flagicon|Philippines}} [[Philippines]] ||106,930
|-
| {{flagicon|Vietnam}} [[Vietnam]] ||97,995
|-
| {{flagicon|Nepal}} [[Nepal]] ||64,946
|-
| {{flagicon|Lebanon}} [[Lebanon]] ||63,293
|-
| {{flagicon|Iraq}} [[Iraq]] ||55,353
|-
| {{flagicon|South Korea}} [[South Korea]] ||53,046
|-
| {{flagicon|South Africa}} [[South Africa]] ||42,347
|}

At the {{CensusAU|2021}}, the most commonly nominated ancestries were:{{NoteTag|The percentages include thoese who did not answer the question or who gave an unclear answer.}}<ref name="quickstats-au">{{cite web |url = https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/1 |title = 2021 New South Wales, Census All persons QuickStats |website = Australian Bureau of Statistics |access-date = 12 September 2022 |archive-date = 12 September 2022 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220912121233/https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/1 |url-status = live }}</ref><ref name="censusdata.abs.gov.au" /> <!-- Only ancestries with >1% are listed. Respondents were able to provide up to two responses, these two responses were combined, Therefore the sum of all ancestry responses for New South Wales will not be equal to the total number of people. -->
{{columns-list|colwidth=12em|
* [[English Australians|English]] (29.8%)
* [[Australians|Australian]] (28.6%){{NoteTag|The Australian Bureau of Statistics has stated that most who nominate "Australian" as their ancestry are part of the [[Anglo-Celtic Australian|Anglo-Celtic]] group.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.abs.gov.au/Ausstats/abs@.nsf/94713ad445ff1425ca25682000192af2/49f609c83cf34d69ca2569de0025c182!OpenDocument |title = Ethnic and Cultural Diversity in Australia (Feature Article) |publisher = [[Australian Bureau of Statistics]] |date = January 1995 |access-date = 22 June 2019 |archive-date = 20 April 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160420205113/http://www.abs.gov.au/Ausstats/abs%40.nsf/94713ad445ff1425ca25682000192af2/49f609c83cf34d69ca2569de0025c182%21OpenDocument |url-status=live }}</ref>}}
* [[Irish Australians|Irish]] (9.1%)
* [[Scottish Australians|Scottish]] (7.7%)
* [[Chinese Australians|Chinese]] (7.2%)
* [[Italian Australians|Italian]] (3.7%)
* [[Indian Australians|Indian]] (3.2%)
* [[Indigenous Australians|Indigenous]] (3.0%){{NoteTag|Includes those identifying as having [[Aboriginal Australians]] or [[Torres Strait Islanders]] ancestry. Indigenous identification is separate to the ancestry question on the Australian Census and persons identifying as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander may identify any ancestry.}}
* [[German Australians|German]] (3.0%)
* [[Lebanese Australians|Lebanese]] (2.2%)
* [[Filipino Australians|Filipino]] (1.9%)
* [[Greek Australians|Greek]] (1.8%)
* [[Vietnamese Australians|Vietnamese]] (1.5%)
* [[Dutch Australians|Dutch]] (1.1%)
* [[Maltese Australians|Maltese]] (1.0%)
}}

At the {{CensusAU|2021}}, there were 2,794,666 people living in New South Wales that were born overseas, accounting for 34.6% of the population. Only 43.7% of the population had both parents born in Australia.{{NoteTag|6.0% of people did not state where their parents were born.}}<ref name="quickstats-au" />

3.4% of the population, or 278,043 people, identified as [[Indigenous Australians]] ([[Aboriginal Australians]] and [[Torres Strait Islanders]]) in 2021.{{NoteTag|Of any ancestry. Includes those identifying as [[Aboriginal Australians]] or [[Torres Strait Islanders]]. Indigenous identification is separate to the ancestry question on the Australian Census and persons identifying as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander may identify any ancestry.}}<ref name="quickstats-au" />

===Language===
According to the {{CensusAU|2021}}, 29.5% of people in New South Wales speak a language other than English at home with [[Standard Chinese|Mandarin]] (3.4%), [[Arabic]] (2.8%), [[Cantonese]] (1.8%), [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]] (1.5%) and [[Hindi]] (1.0%) being the most popular.<ref name="quickstats-au"/>

===Religion===
{{Pie chart
| caption = Religious Affiliations in New South Wales (2021 Census)
| other = yes
| other-color = lightgray
| other-label = Others
| other-percentage = 7.1
| label1 = Christianity
| value1 = 47.6
| color1 = lightblue
| label2 = No Religious Affiliation
| value2 = 33.2
| color2 = lightcoral
| label3 = Islam
| value3 = 4.3
| color3 = Green
| label4 = Hinduism
| value4 = 3.4
| color4 = Orange
| label5 = Buddhism
| value5 = 2.8
| color5 = Buddhism
}}

In the {{CensusAU|2021}}, Christianity was the primary religious affiliation in New South Wales (NSW), comprising 47.6% of the population, mostly [[Catholic Church in Australia|Roman Catholicism]] (22.4%) and [[Anglican Church of Australia|Anglicanism]] (11.9%). This percentage has declined over time, while the number of people identifying with no religious affiliation has risen. In 2016, the Christian affiliation rate was 55.2%, and in 1971 it was 88.4%. About 33.2% of people in NSW reported having no religious affiliation in 2021.<ref name="quickstats-au"/><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-07-21 |title=Faith and Religion for International Students in NSW |url=https://www.study.nsw.gov.au/current-students/living-in-nsw/faith-and-religion/#:~:text=Religion%20in%20NSW,-In%202021,%20the&text=In%202021,%2012.1%25%20of%20people,affiliation%20was%2033.2%25%20in%202021. |access-date=2024-11-01 |website=Study NSW |language=en}}</ref>

About 12.1% of the population in 2021 identified with a non-Christian religion, with Islam (4.3%), Hinduism (3.4%), and Buddhism (2.8%) being the most common.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-07-21 |title=Faith and Religion for International Students in NSW |url=https://www.study.nsw.gov.au/current-students/living-in-nsw/faith-and-religion/#:~:text=Religion%20in%20NSW,-In%202021,%20the&text=In%202021,%2012.1%25%20of%20people,affiliation%20was%2033.2%25%20in%202021. |access-date=2024-11-01 |website=Study NSW |language=en}}</ref>