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AustraliaCommunity profile

Greater Darwin

Language used at home

In Greater Darwin, 23.6% of people used a language other than English at home in 2021.

Greater Darwin'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.

Greater Darwin'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
Greater Darwin - Total persons (Usual residence)20212006Change
Language summaryNumber%Northern Territory %Number%Northern Territory %2006 to 2021
Speaks English only93,27766.757.381,41076.865.9+11,867
Non-English total32,97523.632.413,11612.423.0+19,859
Not stated13,6509.810.311,47010.811.1+2,180
Total Population139,902100.0100.0105,996100.0100.0+33,906
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2006 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
Greater Darwin - Total persons (Usual residence)20212006Change
Language (excludes English)Number%Northern Territory %Number%Northern Territory %2006 to 2021
Filipino/Tagalog4,3423.12.21,1051.00.7+3,237
Greek3,1752.31.42,4032.31.3+772
Nepali2,6511.91.3200.00.0+2,631
Mandarin2,0951.51.14610.40.3+1,634
Australian Indigenous Languages1,3911.015.59680.915.3+423
Vietnamese1,3190.90.76530.60.4+666
Indonesian1,1780.80.66870.60.4+491
Malayalam1,0680.80.7220.00.0+1,046
Punjabi1,0680.80.7300.00.0+1,038
Thai8780.60.44490.40.2+429
Show all (88 entries)

Excludes languages spoken at home by fewer than 10 people.

Dominant groups

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

Overall, 66.7% of the population used English only, and 23.6% used a non-English language, compared with 57.3% and 32.4% respectively for Northern Territory.

The dominant language used at home, other than English, in Greater Darwin was Filipino/Tagalog, with 3.1% of the population, or 4,342 people using this language at home.

The major difference between the languages used at home for the population of Greater Darwin and Northern Territory in 2021 was:

  • A smaller percentage using Australian Indigenous Languages at home (1.0% compared to 15.5%)

Emerging groups

Between 2006 and 2021, the number of people who used a language other than English at home increased by 19,859 or 151.4%, and the number of people who used English only increased by 11,867 or 14.6%.

The largest changes in the languages used by the population in Greater Darwin between 2006 and 2021 were for those using:

  • Filipino/Tagalog (+3,237 persons)
  • Nepali (+2,631 persons)
  • Mandarin (+1,634 persons)
  • Malayalam (+1,046 persons)

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