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New South Wales

Sydney revealed as 2011 Census data is released

21 June 2012 | NSW/131

The changing face of Sydney was revealed today as the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released the first results of the 2011 Census of Population and Housing.

The results show that the new Census population of Greater Sydney is 4,391,674, up from 4,119,188 in 2006 – an increase of 6.6 per cent.

The data also shows that the local government area with the biggest growth in Greater Sydney is Blacktown, which now has 301,097 people up from 271,712 in 2006 – a rise of 10.8 per cent.

The local government area with the highest proportionate growth in Greater Sydney is Canada Bay, which grew from 65,746 in 2006 to 75,763 in 2011 – a rise of 15.2 per cent.

Housing in Greater Sydney has also seen some significant changes over the past five years with median household weekly rents up to $351 from $250 in 2006, an increase of 40.4 per cent. Median monthly household mortgage repayments also increased to $2,167 from $1,800 in 2006, an increase of 20.4 per cent.

NSW Census Director, Mark Harding, said the 2011 Census was a great success and the results released today will help shape the future of Australia over the next five years.

“Census information is used to allocate government funding for all areas of Australia, including Sydney, and to plan vital services and infrastructure that we all use in our communities every day,” Mr Harding said.

“The Census provides a snapshot of the city, including data on topics such as age, education, income, housing, transport, religion, ethnicity and more.”

Mr Harding added that Australia’s richest source of statistical information is now available freely online.

“Census data is available for free on the ABS website, where you can find new, easy-to-use tools, including QuickStats, that make searching Census data quick and easy.”

Data from the 2011 Census of Population and Housing is now available on the ABS website. Visit www.abs.gov.au/census

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