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City of AdelaideCommunity profile

City of Adelaide

Language used at home

In the City of Adelaide, 35.9% of people used a language other than English at home in 2021.

The City of Adelaide's language statistics show the proportion of the population who use a language at home other than English. They indicate how culturally diverse a population is and the degree to which different ethnic groups and nationalities are retaining their language.

The City of Adelaide's language statistics should be analysed in conjunction with Country of Birth and Proficiency in English to assist in identifying specific cultural and ethnic groups in the area and the services required by the multicultural community.

Please note: Due to ABS rules regarding perturbation of data to protect the confidentiality of individuals, counts of individual language groups and totals derived from them may differ slightly from those published by the ABS.

Q:

Derived from the Census question:

'Does the person use a language other than English at home?'

Language used at home - Summary
City of Adelaide - Total persons (Usual residence)20212016Change
Language summaryNumber%Greater Adelaide %Number%Greater Adelaide %2016 to 2021
Speaks English only13,98055.974.811,63752.775.4+2,343
Non-English total8,99535.921.38,00136.319.6+994
Not stated2,0518.23.82,43011.04.9-379
Total Population25,026100.0100.022,068100.0100.0+2,958
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2016 and 2021. Compiled and presented by .id (informed decisions).
Please refer to specific data notes for more information
Language used at home - Ranked by size
City of Adelaide - Total persons (Usual residence)20212016Change
Language (excludes English)Number%Greater Adelaide %Number%Greater Adelaide %2016 to 2021
Mandarin3,44013.72.23,22214.62.1+218
Cantonese8303.30.77963.60.7+34
Vietnamese4331.71.52441.11.4+189
Hindi3461.40.71680.80.5+178
Korean2831.10.32981.40.3-15
Spanish2601.00.52211.00.4+39
Greek2330.91.52301.01.7+3
Filipino/Tagalog2220.90.71010.50.6+121
Arabic2200.90.83391.50.7-119
Italian2060.81.62481.12.1-42
Show all (54 entries)

Excludes languages spoken at home by fewer than 10 people.

Dominant groups

Analysis of the language used at home by the population of the City of Adelaide in 2021 compared to Greater Adelaide shows that there was a smaller proportion of people who used English only, and a larger proportion of those using a non-English language (either exclusively, or in addition to English).

Overall, 55.9% of the population used English only, and 35.9% used a non-English language, compared with 74.8% and 21.3% respectively for Greater Adelaide.

The dominant language used at home, other than English, in the City of Adelaide was Mandarin, with 13.7% of the population, or 3,440 people using this language at home.

The major differences between the languages used at home for the population of the City of Adelaide and Greater Adelaide in 2021 were:

  • A larger percentage using Mandarin at home (13.7% compared to 2.2%)
  • A larger percentage using Cantonese at home (3.3% compared to 0.7%)
  • A smaller percentage using Punjabi at home (0.3% compared to 1.4%)

Emerging groups

Between 2016 and 2021, the number of people who used a language other than English at home increased by 994 or 12.4%, and the number of people who used English only increased by 2,343 or 20.1%.

The largest changes in the languages used by the population in the City of Adelaide between 2016 and 2021 were for those using:

  • Mandarin (+218 persons)
  • Vietnamese (+189 persons)
  • Hindi (+178 persons)
  • Filipino/Tagalog (+121 persons)

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