Dunedin City
Religion
In 2018, the largest single religion in the Dunedin City was Presbyterian, Congregational and Reformed, with 9.8% of the population or 12,378 people as adherents.
The Dunedin City's religion statistics provide an indicator of cultural identity and ethnicity when observed in conjunction with other key variables. Religion data reveal the major concentrations of religions as well as revealing the proportion of people with no religious affiliation. There are a number of reasons for different religious compositions across areas including the country of birth and ethnic background of the population, the age of the population (belief in religion is generally stronger, the older the population) and changes in values and belief systems.
The Dunedin City's religion statistics should be analysed in conjunction with Ethnicity statistics, Māori Descent, Country of Birth data and Languages Spoken data to assist in identifying specific cultural and ethnic groups.
Derived from the Census question:
'What is your religion?'.
Multi-response
Total population
| Religion - Ranked by size | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dunedin City | 2018 | 2006 | Change | |||||
| Religion - Multi-response | Number | % of the population | Waverley % | Number | % of the population | Waverley % | 2006 to 2018 | |
| Presbyterian, Congregational and Reformed | 12,378 | 9.8 | 12.0 | 882 | 22,290 | 18.8 | 24.3 | -9,912 |
| Catholic | 11,073 | 8.8 | 10.3 | 874 | 14,133 | 11.9 | 13.8 | -3,060 |
| Christian nfd | 6,108 | 4.8 | 5.7 | 875 | 4,203 | 3.5 | 4.2 | +1,905 |
| Anglican | 5,553 | 4.4 | 5.4 | 871 | 10,521 | 8.9 | 11.8 | -4,968 |
| Other Christian religions | 1,509 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 886 | 1,353 | 1.1 | 1.7 | +156 |
| Islam/Muslim | 1,299 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 877 | 594 | 0.5 | 0.2 | +705 |
| Pentecostal | 1,188 | 0.9 | 1.5 | 881 | 1,464 | 1.2 | 0.9 | -276 |
| Other religions | 1,122 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 888 | 300 | 0.3 | 0.2 | +822 |
| Hindu | 1,074 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 876 | 603 | 0.5 | 0.5 | +471 |
| Methodist | 1,005 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 880 | 2,055 | 1.7 | 1.9 | -1,050 |
| Buddhist | 981 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 873 | 1,290 | 1.1 | 3.4 | -309 |
| Jedi | 798 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 896 | -- | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- |
| Spiritualism and new age religions | 651 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 885 | 723 | 0.6 | 0.5 | -72 |
| Evangelical, Born Again and Fundamentalist | 588 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 895 | 153 | 0.1 | 0.2 | +435 |
| Latter Day Saints | 489 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 879 | 303 | 0.3 | 0.2 | +186 |
| Jehovah's Witnesses | 393 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 897 | 363 | 0.3 | 0.2 | +30 |
| Sikhism | 195 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 898 | 42 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +153 |
| Ratana | 171 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 883 | 237 | 0.2 | 0.1 | -66 |
| Judaism/Jewish | 162 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 878 | 162 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Ringatu | 81 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 884 | 120 | 0.1 | 0.0 | -39 |
| Other Māori christian religions | 54 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 887 | 6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +48 |
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Source: Statistics New Zealand, Census of Population and Dwellings (opens a new window)
2006 and 2018. Compiled and presented in profile.id by .id (opens a new window)
(informed decisions).
Stats NZ data quality rating: High(opens a new window)
Excludes religions with fewer than 20 adherents, or less than 0.1% of the total population.
| Religion - Totals | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dunedin City | 2018 | 2006 | Change | |||||
| Religion - totals - multi-response | Number | % of the population | Waverley % | Number | % of the population | Waverley % | 2006 to 2018 | |
 Total Christian | 41,487 | 32.9 | 39.8 | 889 | 58,671 | 49.4 | 61.9 | -17,184 |
| Total Māori Christian | 306 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 890 | 363 | 0.3 | 0.1 | -57 |
| Total Non Christian | 6,282 | 5.0 | 4.4 | 891 | 3,714 | 3.1 | 4.9 | +2,568 |
| No religion | 70,662 | 56.0 | 50.7 | 892 | 45,108 | 38.0 | 33.7 | +25,554 |
| Not stated / included | 8,193 | 6.5 | 5.8 | 893 | 14,103 | 11.9 | 7.9 | -5,910 |
| Total respondents | 118,062 | 93.5 | 94.2 | 8951 | 104,580 | 88.1 | 92.1 | +13,482 |
| Total responses | 126,930 | 100.5 | 100.7 | 8952 | 121,959 | 102.8 | 108.5 | +4,971 |
| Total population | 126,255 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 9999 | 118,683 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +7,572 |
Source: Statistics New Zealand, Census of Population and Dwellings (opens a new window)
2006 and 2018. Compiled and presented in profile.id by .id (opens a new window)
(informed decisions).
Stats NZ data quality rating: High(opens a new window)
Compiled and presented by .id (informed decisions).
Compiled and presented by .id (informed decisions).
Dominant groups
Analysis of the religious affiliation of the population of the Dunedin City in 2018 compared to the Waverley shows that there was a lower proportion of people who professed a religion and a higher proportion who stated they had no religion.
Overall, 38.1% of the population nominated a religion, and 56.0% said they had no religion, compared with 44.2% and 50.7% respectively for the Waverley.
The largest single religion in the Dunedin City was Presbyterian, Congregational and Reformed, with 9.8% of the population or 12,378 people as adherents.
The major differences between the religious affiliation for the population of the Dunedin City and the Waverley were:
- A smaller percentage who nominated Presbyterian, Congregational and Reformed (9.8% compared to 12.0%)
- A smaller percentage who nominated Catholic (8.8% compared to 10.3%)
- A smaller percentage who nominated Anglican (4.4% compared to 5.4%)
- A smaller percentage who nominated Christian nfd (4.8% compared to 5.7%)
Note: Percentages(%) are based on total population
Emerging groups
The largest changes in the religious affiliation of the population in the Dunedin City between 2006 and 2018 were for those who nominated:
- Presbyterian, Congregational and Reformed (-9,912 responses)
- Anglican (-4,968 responses)
- Catholic (-3,060 responses)
- Christian nfd (+1,905 responses)