The Hunter is growing faster than expected but remains sicker, less religious and far less culturally diverse than the Australian average.
The first release of data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics' 2021 Census shows a steep fall in religious beliefs across the Hunter in the past five years and a growing elderly population.
The Hunter's population grew by almost 60,000 between 2016 and 2021, from 622,522 to 682,465, a rise of almost 10 per cent.
The Newcastle and Lake Macquarie population rose 8.7 per cent in the five years to 2021, from 359,106 to 390,519, and the rest of the Hunter grew 10.8 per cent, from 263,416 to 291,946.
The almost 2 per cent annual jump in the region's population over the past five years is significantly higher than the growth rate from 2011 to 2016 (1.26 per cent a year) and the growth rate forecast in state government planning documents.
The draft Hunter Regional Plan 2041 predicted the region's population would increase at a more stately 1.17 per cent a year to 860,000 by 2041. Two per cent annual growth would result in a population of just over 1 million.
University of Newcastle professor Roberta Ryan said the 2021 population figure could be distorted by COVID-19, which had drawn people from Sydney and either encouraged or forced more people to stay in the Hunter.
Professor Ryan, a political sociologist, said it was unclear whether increased work-from-home opportunities and other effects of the pandemic would lead to a sustained increase in the Hunter's growth rate.
The ABS figures also reveal a significant rise in the number of Hunter retirees, especially those aged over 70.
In Newcastle and Lake Macquarie, the ratio of people aged over 70 jumped from 13.1 to 14.4 per cent.
In the rest of the Hunter, over-70s accounted for 13.4 per cent of the population, up from 11.7 per cent in 2016.
The region's median age is 40, compared with the national median of 38.
The Hunter was home to 28,282 more over-65s in 2021 than it was five years earlier, up from 105,884 to 134,166.
More than 17,000 of the region's extra over-65s live outside Newcastle and Lake Macquarie.
Professor Ryan said small regional centres across Australia were getting smaller at the same time larger regional cities like Newcastle were growing bigger.
"The main reason the older population in the Hunter is growing is our excellent health service, especially the range of specialists we have," Professor Ryan said.
"If you're going to move from Timbuktu to Newcastle, it's because of work opportunities, but it's also because of the health services."
Professor Ryan said an increasing number of jobs in the NSW public service, the largest single employer in Australia, were designated "place blind" and could be done in regional areas.
The ABS figures show Hunter residents are more likely than other Australians to suffer from a long-term health condition.
More than one in 10 reported having asthma, compared with 8.1 per cent across Australia.
"Air pollution has improved significantly in Sydney over the past 20 years, but it's still an issue here; we still get that black dust on our skirting boards," Professor Ryan said.
More than 12 per cent, or almost one in eight, of all people in the Hunter reported having a mental health condition, including depression or anxiety, compared with the national ratio of 8.8 per cent.
Eleven per cent of the population reported having arthritis, compared with 8.5 per cent nationally.
The ratios of people suffering a host of other conditions, including cancer, dementia, diabetes, lung disease and heart disease, were also higher in the Hunter.
Across Australia, 39.8 per cent of people said they had a long-term health condition, compared with 45.5 per cent in Newcastle and 46.9 per cent in the rest of the Hunter.
The statistics confirm the region is far more Anglo-Saxon than the national average.
Across Australia, one in three people were born overseas, compared with one in six in the Hunter.
Only 14 per cent of Hunter residents had parents who were both born overseas, compared with the national ratio of 36.7 per cent.
Almost 42 per cent of Hunter people said they had no religion, up sharply from 27.8 per cent in 2016 and above the national godless rate of 38.4 per cent.
The proportion of people identifying as Catholic fell from 21.4 to 18.4 per cent in Newcastle and 23.4 to 20.6 per cent in the rest of the region.
The number of Anglicans dropped even more sharply, from 19.5 to 14.3 per cent in Newcastle and from 26.5 to 20.6 per cent in the rest of the Hunter.
Professor Ryan said the rapid fall of religious affiliation in Australia did not mean people were less engaged in their communities.
