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LEARN MORE ABOUT .idIn South East Queensland, 15.6% of people used a language other than English at home in 2021.
South East Queensland'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.
South East Queensland'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 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South East Queensland - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2021 | 2006 | Change | ||||
| Language summary | Number | % | Northern Territory % | Number | % | Northern Territory % | 2006 to 2021 |
| Speaks English only | 2,838,809 | 79.2 | 57.3 | 2,283,001 | 85.2 | 65.9 | +555,808 |
| Non-English total | 560,364 | 15.6 | 32.4 | 244,037 | 9.1 | 23.0 | +316,327 |
| Not stated | 186,588 | 5.2 | 10.3 | 153,490 | 5.7 | 11.1 | +33,098 |
| Total Population | 3,585,761 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 2,680,528 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +905,233 |
| Language used at home - Ranked by size | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South East Queensland - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2021 | 2006 | Change | ||||
| Language (excludes English) | Number | % | Northern Territory % | Number | % | Northern Territory % | 2006 to 2021 |
| Mandarin | 77,493 | 2.2 | 1.1 | 23,419 | 0.9 | 0.3 | +54,074 |
| Vietnamese | 28,731 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 16,369 | 0.6 | 0.4 | +12,362 |
| Punjabi | 26,528 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 1,620 | 0.1 | 0.0 | +24,908 |
| Spanish | 26,010 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 9,887 | 0.4 | 0.2 | +16,123 |
| Cantonese | 25,532 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 18,351 | 0.7 | 0.4 | +7,181 |
| Filipino/Tagalog | 24,338 | 0.7 | 2.2 | 8,806 | 0.3 | 0.7 | +15,532 |
| Korean | 19,665 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 6,732 | 0.3 | 0.0 | +12,933 |
| Hindi | 19,304 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 7,317 | 0.3 | 0.1 | +11,987 |
| Samoan | 15,877 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 9,022 | 0.3 | 0.0 | +6,855 |
| Japanese | 14,383 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 7,994 | 0.3 | 0.1 | +6,389 |
Show all (105 entries)
Dominant groups
Analysis of the language used at home by the population of South East Queensland 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, 79.2% of the population used English only, and 15.6% 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 South East Queensland was Mandarin, with 2.2% of the population, or 77,493 people using this language at home.
The major differences between the languages used at home for the population of South East Queensland and Northern Territory in 2021 were:
- A smaller percentage using Australian Indigenous Languages at home (0.1% compared to 15.5%)
- A smaller percentage using Filipino/Tagalog at home (0.7% compared to 2.2%)
- A smaller percentage using Greek at home (0.3% compared to 1.4%)
- A smaller percentage using Nepali at home (0.3% compared to 1.3%)
Emerging groups
Between 2006 and 2021, the number of people who used a language other than English at home increased by 316,327 or 129.6%, and the number of people who used English only increased by 555,808 or 24.3%.
The largest changes in the languages used by the population in South East Queensland between 2006 and 2021 were for those using:
- Mandarin (+54,074 persons)
- Punjabi (+24,908 persons)
- Spanish (+16,123 persons)
- Filipino/Tagalog (+15,532 persons)
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