The latest Census in 2001 recorded 71,310 Lebanon-born persons in Australia, an increase of 2 per cent from the 1996 Census. The 2001 distribution by State and Territory showed New South Wales had the largest number with 53,260 followed by Victoria (14,160), South Australia (1,470) and Queensland (1,130).

Age and sex

The median age of the Lebanon-born in 2001 was 41.9 years compared with 46.0 years for all overseas-born and 35.6 years for the total Australian population. The age distribution showed 2.8 per cent were aged 0-14 years, 8.3 per cent were 15-24 years, 46.6 per cent were 25-44 years, 33.0 per cent were 45-64 years and 9.3 per cent were 65 and over.

Of the Lebanon-born in Australia, there were 37,150 males (52.1 per cent) and 34,160 females (47.9 per cent). The sex ratio was 108.8 males per 100 females.

Qualifications

In 2001, of Lebanon-born people aged 15 years and over, 28.1 per cent held some form of educational or occupational qualification compared with 46.2 per cent for all Australians. Among the Lebanon-born, 9.2 per cent had higher qualifications* and 9.8 per cent had Certificate level qualifications. Of the Lebanon-born with no qualifications, 7.4 per cent were still attending an educational institution.

* Higher qualification includes Postgraduate Degree, Graduate Diploma & Graduate Certificate and Bachelor Degree Advanced Diploma & Diploma Level.

Employment

Among Lebanon-born people aged 15 years and over, the participation rate in the labour force was 44.9 per cent and the unemployment rate was 14.5 per cent. The corresponding rates in the total Australian population were 63.0 and 7.4 per cent respectively.

Of the 26,200 Lebanon-born who were employed, 51.7 per cent were employed in a Skilled occupation, 26.7 per cent in Semi-Skilled and 21.6 per cent in Unskilled. The corresponding rates in the total Australian population were 52.6, 28.9 and 18.6 per cent respectively.

Citizenship

At the 2001 Census, the rate* of Australian Citizenship for the Lebanon-born in Australia was 97.0 per cent. The rate for all overseas-born was 75.1 per cent.

* Includes adjustments for people not meeting the residential requirement for citizenship, temporary entrants to Australia and underenumeration at the Census.

Language

The main languages spoken at home by Lebanon-born people in Australia were Arabic Including Lebanese (90.6 per cent), English (6.2 per cent), and Armenian (1.4 per cent).

Of the 66,700 Lebanon-born who spoke a language other than English at home, 75.4 per cent spoke English very well or well and 23.8 per cent spoke English not well or not at all.

Religion

At the 2001 Census the major religions amongst Lebanon-born were Islam (29,330 persons), Western Catholic (13,640 persons) and Maronite Catholic (13,340 persons).

Of the Lebanon-born, 0.7 per cent stated 'No Religion'. This was lower than that of the total Australian population (15.5 per cent)

Ancestry

In the 2001 Census, the top three ancestries that Lebanon-born persons reported were, Lebanese (61,810), Arab, Nfd (1,780) and Armenian (1,170).