Census 2016: Australians older, more culturally diverse and abandoning religion

Australia's population has become more ethnically diverse, older and is increasingly abandoning religion, according to national Census results released today.

The nation is home to 24.4 million people, with 1.3 million new migrants calling Australia home since 2011. Residents come from 180 different countries of birth, with most new arrivals coming from China and India.

While most migrants settle in Sydney and Melbourne, more than one in three New Zealand migrants settled in Queensland.

Just over a quarter of residents are born overseas (26 per cent), with England remaining the most common country of birth,

For the first time in Australia's history, the majority of people born overseas are from Asia rather than Europe.

The number of Australians speaking only English at home dropped from almost 77 percent in 2011 to almost 72.7 percent last year.

Age

Australia's population is ageing, with 664,473 more people aged over 65 since 2011. Almost one in five Tasmanians are aged over 65, and the state has a median age of 42. South Australia is next eldest, with a median age of 40 years.

Religion

Thirty percent of people identified as having no religion, up from 22 percent five years ago and almost double the 16 per cent in 2001.

Sixty percent of people reported a religious affiliation, with Christianity remaining the most common religion at 52 per cent of the population.

Islam, at 2.6 percent, and Buddhism, at 2.4 percent, were the next most common religions reported.

State growth

New South Wales remains Australia's most populous state, with 7,480,228 people counted, ahead of Victoria (5,926,624) and Queensland (4,703,193).

The Australian Capital Territory experienced the greatest population growth of any state or territory over the past five years, with an 11 percent increase – or 40,000 new residents.

Greater Sydney was again found to be Australian's largest population centre with 4,823,991 people and having welcomed 1656 new residents each week since 2011.

However, Greater Melbourne is closing in fast – recording an increase of about 1859 people every week since 2011.

The West Australian town of Jarrahdale, about 45km from Perth, had the fastest regional growth with a 51 percent boom to 27,000 people.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders

More people have reported as having Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin, and account for about 2.8 per cent of the population. The population size has increased by 18.4 per cent since 2011 and has almost double since 1996.