Indian migrants fuel Australian population boom, Hinduism fastest-growing religion

India, the largest single source of migrants to Australia, is being cited as one of the reasons the population of this Indo-Pacific nation is booming — and, expectedly, Hinduism is likely to remain the country's fastest-growing religion. More than 40,000 Indians were part of those who arrived in Australia as a part of the 2015-16 migration programmes. Their number (40,145) increased from 34,874 (18.4 per cent) for 2014-15. According to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), Australia's population rose by almost 350,000 to 24.2 million during the fiscal ended September 30, 2016. The increase, which includes almost 200,000 migrants, translates to a growth rate of 1.5 percent. The rising number of Indians in Australia also means more attention is being paid to the community.

According to an estimate, the Indian-born population in Australia doubled in the five years between the 2006 and 2011 census from nearly 150,000 to nearly 300,000 people. The 2016 census is likely to provide similar results. The second spot in the migrants' list was taken by China as 29,008 places (15.3 percent) were filled from the most populous country in the world. The 2016 figures are up from 27,872 (14.7 percent). The United Kingdom has shown a drop in the numbers and was a distant third with 18,950 places (10 percent). Other South Asian countries (Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives) also contributed significantly as nearly 10 per cent of the migrants came from these countries. While specific figures have not yet been made available, it is expected that Hinduism would continue to be the fastest-growing religion in Australia.