Wollongong - Demographics

Demographics

The Wollongong metropolitan area includes the suburbs, outlying towns and rural localities stretching from Helensburgh in the north to Gerroa in the south. With an estimated population of 292,190 as at 30 June 2010 it is the 3rd largest city in New South Wales and the 10th largest in Australia. Around 89% of the population reside in the built-up urban area extending from Clifton to Shell Cove.

The following table includes selected 2006 census figures for these areas, together with those for the central suburb of Wollongong.

Selected 2006 Census Statistics
		Metropolitan Area			Urban Area			Inner City
Area		Helensburgh to Kiama			Clifton to Shell Cove			Wollongong Suburb
Population		263,535			234,482			14,363
Indigenous persons		4,744		1.8%	4,415		1.9%	183		1.3%
Age Groups	0–4 years	16,478		6.3%	14,780		6.3%	540		3.8%
	5–14	36,435		13.8%	32,020		13.7%	887		6.2%
	15–24	36,329		13.8%	32,590		13.9%	3,055		21.3%
	25–54	106,038		40.2%	94,564		40.3%	6,100		42.5%
	55–64	28,447		10.8%	25,167		10.7%	1,427		9.9%
	65+	39,806		15.1%	35,361		15.1%	2,355		16.4%
People born overseas		53,102		20.1%	49,501		21.1%	4,151		28.9%
Country of birth	1	Australia	194,197	73.7%	Australia	170,058	72.5%	Australia	8,579	59.7%
	2	England	12,964	4.9%	England	11,503	4.9%	England	437	3.0%
	3	Macedonia	4,276	1.6%	Macedonia	4,261	1.8%	China	409	2.8%
	4	Italy	3,746	1.4%	Italy	3,613	1.5%	Macedonia	329	2.3%
	5	Scotland	2,681	1.0%	Scotland	2,452	1.0%	Croatia	220	1.5%
	6	New Zealand	2,358	0.9%	New Zealand	2,051	0.9%	Italy	195	1.4%
Language Spoken At Home	1	English only	215,079	81.6%	English only	187,944	80.2%	English only	9,308	64.8%
	2	Macedonian	6,857	2.6%	Macedonian	6,814	2.9%	Macedonian	522	3.6%
	3	Italian	5,275	2.0%	Italian	5,097	2.2%	Mandarin	389	2.7%
	4	Spanish	2,456	0.9%	Spanish	2,390	1.0%	Serbian	371	2.6%
	5	Greek	2,353	0.9%	Greek	2,272	1.0%	Italian	320	2.2%
	6	Serbian	1,782	0.7%	Serbian	1,738	0.7%	Greek	311	2.2%
Religious Affiliation	1	Catholic	76,875	29.2%	Catholic	68,751	29.3%	Catholic	3,453	24.0%
	2	Anglican	62,640	23.8%	Anglican	54,694	23.3%	No Religion	2,462	17.1%
	3	No Religion	38,901	14.8%	No Religion	34,070	14.5%	Anglican	2,236	15.6%
	4	Eastern Orthodox	14,199	5.4%	Eastern Orthodox	13,910	5.9%	Eastern Orthodox	1,459	10.2%
	5	Uniting Church	14,060	5.3%	Uniting Church	12,073	5.1%	Uniting Church	516	3.6%
Total labour force		119,542			105,316			7,110

Wollongong is continuing to grow with a population growth of 2.9% for the period 2001 to 2006, although the supply of new residential land is limited by the geography particularly in the northern suburbs. The west Dapto area is a major centre of future growth with plans for 19,000 new dwellings and 50,000 people within 40 years. New residential areas are also being developed further south around the Albion Park, Shell Cove and Kiama areas.

Wollongong Population Growth 1947–2006
Year	Population	Increase	Growth
1947	70,135
1954	100,725	30,590	43.6%
1961	150,387	49,662	49.3%
1966	177,432	27,045	18.0%
1971	202,800	25,368	14.3%
1976	222,250	19,450	9.6%
1981	231,400	9,150	4.1%
1986	232,240	840	0.4%
1991	244,930	12,690	5.5%
1996	255,740	10,810	4.4%
2001	256,095	355	0.1%
2006	263,535	7,440	2.9%
Source: 1947–1996 2001 2006

Wollongong has a distinctly multicultural population. Many migrants were attracted to the area by the job opportunities at the Port Kembla steelworks in the post-war period, and settled in surrounding suburbs such as Cringila, Warrawong and Coniston. By 1966 about 60% of the wage earners at the Australian Iron and Steel steelworks were born overseas coming from over 70 countries. These included British, Macedonians, Portuguese Greeks, Bosnians, Croatians, Serbians, Germans, Turks, and Chileans. With the end of the White Australia policy these were followed by Indo-Chinese refugees in the 1970s, Indians, Filipinos, Chinese, Malays and Pacific Islanders in the 1980s and 1990s. The university continues to attract students and staff from all over the world, with around 5,000 overseas student enrolments.

In religion Wollongong is predominantly Christian. The major denominations are Catholic (29.2%) and Anglican (23.8%), while 14.8% of the population profess no religion.

Major sources of employment include education, steel and food service. Around 20,000 people commute daily to jobs in Sydney by road and rail, making it one of the busiest commuter corridors in Australia.