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LEARN MORE ABOUT .idThe three largest ancestries in South East Queensland in 2021 were English, Australian and Irish.
Ancestry defines the cultural association and ethnic background of an individual going back three generations. Ancestry is a good measure of the total size of cultural groups in South East Queensland regardless of where they were born or what language they speak.
Ancestry data, should be combined with data on Birthplace, Language Spoken at Home and Religion for a more complete picture of South East Queensland's ethnic characteristics.
Please note that the "Australian Aboriginal" and "Torres Strait Islander" categories in this topic are not directly comparable from 2021 to previous years, due to a change in the wording of the question. In 2021, these options were marked boxes on the question rather than write-in options. The "Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Origin" question is still considered a more reliable count for this group, and can be found on the Population summary page.
Please note: Due to changes in ABS rules around perturbation and additivity of data to protect the confidentiality of individuals, counts of ancestry groups and totals derived from them may differ slightly from those published by the ABS. For more information see notes on data confidentiality.
Q:
Derived from the Census question:
'What is the person's ancestry?'
Multi-response
| Ancestry - Totals | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South East Queensland - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2021 | 2001 | Change | ||||
| Ancestry totals | Number | % | Victoria % | Number | % | Victoria % | 2001 to 2021 |
| Not stated | 210,600 | 4.3 | 4.5 | 154,966 | 5.5 | 6.2 | +55,634 |
| Total responses | 4,896,562 | -- | -- | 2,835,015 | -- | -- | +2,061,547 |
| Total people | 3,585,724 | -- | -- | 2,389,225 | -- | -- | +1,196,499 |
| Ancestry - Ranked by size | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South East Queensland - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2021 | 2001 | Change | ||||
| Ancestry | Number | % | Victoria % | Number | % | Victoria % | 2001 to 2021 |
| English | 1,367,476 | 38.1 | 29.2 | 928,340 | 38.9 | 30.3 | +439,136 |
| Australian | 1,142,007 | 31.8 | 27.2 | 898,085 | 37.6 | 33.0 | +243,922 |
| Irish | 400,546 | 11.2 | 9.4 | 300,327 | 12.6 | 10.2 | +100,219 |
| Scottish | 370,965 | 10.3 | 8.2 | 82,235 | 3.4 | 2.8 | +288,730 |
| German | 203,221 | 5.7 | 3.3 | 140,208 | 5.9 | 3.3 | +63,013 |
| Chinese | 142,935 | 4.0 | 6.6 | 49,434 | 2.1 | 3.3 | +93,501 |
| Italian | 100,026 | 2.8 | 5.9 | 52,998 | 2.2 | 6.3 | +47,028 |
| Australian Aboriginal | 93,481 | 2.6 | 1.0 | 2,691 | 0.1 | 0.0 | +90,790 |
| Indian | 81,081 | 2.3 | 4.3 | 14,641 | 0.6 | 0.9 | +66,440 |
| Dutch | 60,138 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 36,965 | 1.5 | 1.7 | +23,173 |
Show all (130 entries)
Dominant groups
Analysis of the ancestry responses of the population in South East Queensland in 2021 shows that the top five ancestries nominated were:
- English (1,367,476 people or 38.1%)
- Australian (1,142,007 people or 31.8%)
- Irish (400,546 people or 11.2%)
- Scottish (370,965 people or 10.3%)
- German (203,221 people or 5.7%)
In combination these five ancestries account for 3,484,215 responses in total, or 97.17% of all responses.
The major differences between the ancestries of the population in South East Queensland and Victoria were:
- A larger percentage of people with English ancestry (38.1% compared to 29.2%)
- A larger percentage of people with Australian ancestry (31.8% compared to 27.2%)
- A smaller percentage of people with Italian ancestry (2.8% compared to 5.9%)
- A smaller percentage of people with Chinese ancestry (4.0% compared to 6.6%)
Emerging groups
The largest changes in the reported ancestries of the population in this area between 2001 and 2021 were:
- English (+439,136 persons)
- Scottish (+288,730 persons)
- Australian (+243,922 persons)
- Irish (+100,219 persons)
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