The latest census figures reveal the Muslim population in Australia has soared to more than 604,000 people, overtaking Buddhism as the most popular non-Christian religion.

The number of Muslims living in the country has almost doubled from 341,000 in the the 2006 census.

The surge in the number of Muslims comes as the Census revealed an additional 2.2 million people registered as having no religion – surpassing Catholicism as the country’s most popular religious affiliation.

Data from the 2016 census, released on Tuesday, shows 30 per cent of Australians identified as having no religion, compared with 22 per cent in the 2011 census and almost 19 per cent in 2006.

The latest census figures reveal the Muslim population in Australia has soared to more than 604,000 people

The first batch of data from the 2016 census shows 30 per cent of Australians identified as having no religion, compared with 22 per cent in the 2011 census

Islam has overtaken Buddhism as the most popular non-Christian religion (pictured)

FINDINGS OF THE 2016 CENSUS * Australia's estimated population at December 31 was 24.4 million people. * There were 23,717,421 people in Australia on Census night, which included 23,401,892 people who usually live in Australia- an 8.8 per cent increase from 2011. More than 600,000 Australians were travelling overseas. * NSW remains our 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 largest population growth of any state or territory over the past five years, adding more than 40,000 new residents - an increase of 11 per cent. * Greater Sydney is Australia's largest population centre with 4,823,991 people, growing at 1656 every week since the previous Census. * 1.3 million new migrants have come to Australia since 2011, hailing from some of the 180 countries of birth recorded in the Census, with China (191,000) and India (163,000) being the most common countries of birth of new arrivals. * Of all Australian residents, just more than a quarter of people (26 per cent) said they were born overseas, with England remaining the most common country of birth other than Australia. For the first time in our history, the majority of people born overseas are now from Asia, not Europe. * We remain a predominantly an English speaking country, with 72.7 per cent of people reporting they speak only English at home. Tasmania had the highest rate of people speaking only English at home with 88 per cent, while the Northern Territory had the lowest rate at 58 per cent. * Australia also remains a predominantly religious country, with 60 per cent of people reporting a religious affiliation. However, the proportion of people reporting no religion increased to 30 per cent in 2016 - up from 22 per cent five years ago, and nearly double the 16 per cent in 2001. * Australians are getting older with 664,473 additional people aged 65 and over since 2011. Advertisement

Out of Australia’s population of 23.4 million people, 7,040,700 people identify as having no religion.

Catholics make up just over 22 per cent – or 5.2 million people – followed by 3.8 million Christians – or 16.3 per cent.

Residents aged between 18 and 34 years were more likely to affiliate with no religion than to Christianity, the Census revealed.

One the other hand, about 70 percent of people over the age of 65 reported themselves and Christians.

From 2006 to 2016, the proportion of people reporting a religion other than Christianity in the Census increased from 5.6 per cent to 8.2 percent, the census shows.

Hinduism and Islam have been the top two fastest growing non-Christian religions in the country during the past decade but Islam rose to the top in 2016 with 2.6 per cent of the population

The number of Muslims living in the country has almost double from 341,000 since the 2006 census

Dropping from 2.5 per cent to 2.4 per cent, Buddhism fell to the second biggest non-Christian religion

Hinduism sits in third place at 1.9 per cent of Australia's population

Hinduism and Islam have been the top two fastest growing non-Christian religions in the country during the past decade.

Hinduism grew from .7 per cent of the population to 1.9 per cent in 2016 – securing the third spot for the most popular non-Christian religion

Dropping from 2.5 per cent to 2.4 per cent, Buddhism fell to the second spot as Islam rose to the top with 2.6 per cent of the population.

Sikhism is listed as the fourth most popular non-Christian religion with .5 per cent, followed by Judaism at .4 per cent.

Meanwhile, the number of Australians speaking only English at home dropped from almost 77 per cent in 2011 to almost 73 per cent in 2016.