South Australia
Language used at home
In South Australia, 16.3016 of people used a language other than English at home in 2016.
South Australia'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 Australia'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.
Derived from the Census question:
'Does the person use a language other than English at home?'
Total population
| Language used at home - Summary | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Australia - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2016 | 2011 | Change | |||||
| Language summary | Number | % | Victoria % | Number | % | Victoria % | 2011 to 2016 | |
| Speaks English only | 1,311,533 | 78.2 | 67.9 | 36500 | 1,303,066 | 81.6 | 72.4 | +8,467 |
| Non-English total | 273,321 | 16.3 | 25.9 | 36501 | 228,863 | 14.3 | 23.0 | +44,458 |
| Not stated | 91,797 | 5.5 | 6.2 | 36502 | 64,638 | 4.0 | 4.6 | +27,159 |
| Total Population | 1,676,651 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 1,596,567 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +80,084 | |
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing (opens a new window) 2011 and 2016. Compiled and presented by .id (opens a new window)(informed decisions).
| Language used at home - Ranked by size | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Australia - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2016 | 2011 | Change | |||||
| Language (excludes English) | Number | % | Victoria % | Number | % | Victoria % | 2011 to 2016 | |
| Italian | 29,106 | 1.7 | 1.9 | 36022 | 33,325 | 2.1 | 2.3 | -4,219 |
| Mandarin | 28,780 | 1.7 | 3.2 | 36007 | 16,527 | 1.0 | 1.9 | +12,253 |
| Greek | 22,993 | 1.4 | 1.9 | 36015 | 25,212 | 1.6 | 2.2 | -2,219 |
| Vietnamese | 19,017 | 1.1 | 1.7 | 36037 | 15,979 | 1.0 | 1.6 | +3,038 |
| Cantonese | 9,666 | 0.6 | 1.3 | 36006 | 9,020 | 0.6 | 1.4 | +646 |
| Filipino/Tagalog | 9,345 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 36011 | 6,789 | 0.4 | 0.6 | +2,556 |
| Punjabi | 9,306 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 36088 | 4,425 | 0.3 | 0.6 | +4,881 |
| Arabic | 9,292 | 0.6 | 1.3 | 36004 | 7,466 | 0.5 | 1.3 | +1,826 |
| Hindi | 7,310 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 36016 | 4,393 | 0.3 | 0.6 | +2,917 |
| German | 6,453 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 36014 | 7,455 | 0.5 | 0.4 | -1,002 |
| Polish | 5,677 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 36028 | 6,247 | 0.4 | 0.3 | -570 |
| Spanish | 5,669 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 36034 | 4,909 | 0.3 | 0.5 | +760 |
| Persian | 4,747 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 36019 | 2,900 | 0.2 | 0.2 | +1,847 |
| Nepali | 4,504 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 36081 | 1,730 | 0.1 | 0.1 | +2,774 |
| Gujarati | 4,345 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 36064 | 2,403 | 0.2 | 0.2 | +1,942 |
| Khmer | 4,255 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 36024 | 3,690 | 0.2 | 0.2 | +565 |
| Serbian | 4,175 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 36032 | 4,272 | 0.3 | 0.3 | -97 |
| Hazaraghi | 3,925 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 36114 | 1,240 | 0.1 | 0.1 | +2,685 |
| Malayalam | 3,692 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 36077 | 2,206 | 0.1 | 0.2 | +1,486 |
| Korean | 3,600 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 36025 | 3,045 | 0.2 | 0.2 | +555 |
| Dari | 3,408 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 36113 | 2,247 | 0.1 | 0.1 | +1,161 |
| Australian Indigenous Languages | 3,392 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 36005 | 3,587 | 0.2 | 0.0 | -195 |
| Russian | 3,289 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 36030 | 3,097 | 0.2 | 0.3 | +192 |
| Croatian | 3,075 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 36009 | 3,478 | 0.2 | 0.4 | -403 |
| Urdu | 2,942 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 36108 | 1,306 | 0.1 | 0.2 | +1,636 |
| French | 2,720 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 36013 | 2,129 | 0.1 | 0.3 | +591 |
| Tamil | 2,701 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 36035 | 1,712 | 0.1 | 0.3 | +989 |
| Sinhalese | 2,640 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 36033 | 1,750 | 0.1 | 0.5 | +890 |
| Dutch | 2,551 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 36010 | 3,060 | 0.2 | 0.2 | -509 |
| Bengali | 2,406 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 36050 | 1,533 | 0.1 | 0.1 | +873 |
| Afrikaans | 2,362 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 36044 | 2,054 | 0.1 | 0.1 | +308 |
| Non-verbal so described | 2,219 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 36082 | 1,403 | 0.1 | 0.1 | +816 |
| Japanese | 2,200 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 36023 | 1,795 | 0.1 | 0.2 | +405 |
| Swahili | 2,004 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 36096 | 1,204 | 0.1 | 0.0 | +800 |
| Thai | 1,955 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 36102 | 1,380 | 0.1 | 0.1 | +575 |
| Indonesian | 1,822 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 36018 | 1,525 | 0.1 | 0.3 | +297 |
| Dinka | 1,780 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 36059 | 1,441 | 0.1 | 0.1 | +339 |
| Portuguese | 1,550 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 36029 | 1,047 | 0.1 | 0.1 | +503 |
| Hungarian | 1,409 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 36017 | 1,498 | 0.1 | 0.1 | -89 |
| Bosnian | 1,406 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 36051 | 1,397 | 0.1 | 0.1 | +9 |
| Telugu | 1,325 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 36099 | 707 | 0.0 | 0.1 | +618 |
| Chinese, nfd | 1,292 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 36055 | 1,773 | 0.1 | 0.1 | -481 |
| Ukrainian | 1,097 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 36107 | 1,157 | 0.1 | 0.1 | -60 |
| Malay | 1,015 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 36076 | 1,071 | 0.1 | 0.1 | -56 |
| Romanian | 968 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 36089 | 980 | 0.1 | 0.1 | -12 |
| Auslan | 852 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 36049 | 727 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +125 |
| Maltese | 846 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 36027 | 931 | 0.1 | 0.3 | -85 |
| Min Nan (incl.Hokkien) | 810 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 36068 | 749 | 0.0 | 0.1 | +61 |
| Kurdish | 754 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 36073 | 631 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +123 |
| Lao | 708 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 36074 | 572 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +136 |
| Marathi | 708 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 36080 | 382 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +326 |
| Turkish | 697 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 36036 | 693 | 0.0 | 0.6 | +4 |
| Macedonian | 633 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 36026 | 707 | 0.0 | 0.6 | -74 |
| Shona | 624 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 36091 | 422 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +202 |
| Pashto | 590 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 36086 | 205 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +385 |
| Albanian | 579 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 36045 | 553 | 0.0 | 0.1 | +26 |
| Chin Haka | 574 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 36003 | 46 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +528 |
| Burmese | 514 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 36053 | 397 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +117 |
| Serbo-Croatian Yugoslavian, so described | 507 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 36090 | 599 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -92 |
| Amharic | 498 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 36046 | 331 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +167 |
| Latvian | 492 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 36075 | 631 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -139 |
| Czech | 484 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 36056 | 514 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -30 |
| Kannada | 453 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 36071 | 311 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +142 |
| Somali | 415 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 36094 | 435 | 0.0 | 0.1 | -20 |
| Uygur | 397 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 36109 | 403 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -6 |
| Swedish | 396 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 36097 | 363 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +33 |
| Slovak | 363 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 36092 | 362 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +1 |
| Karen | 350 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 36072 | 198 | 0.0 | 0.1 | +152 |
| Bulgarian | 334 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 36052 | 382 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -48 |
| Tigrinya | 325 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 36112 | 123 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +202 |
| Danish | 286 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 36057 | 286 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Slovene | 265 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 36093 | 280 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -15 |
| Finnish | 260 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 36063 | 291 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -31 |
| Māori (New Zealand) | 222 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 36079 | 238 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -16 |
| Hebrew | 189 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 36066 | 151 | 0.0 | 0.1 | +38 |
| Norwegian | 172 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 36083 | 120 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +52 |
| Fijian | 172 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 36061 | 148 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +24 |
| Samoan | 155 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 36031 | 139 | 0.0 | 0.1 | +16 |
| Oromo | 134 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 36085 | 102 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +32 |
| Tongan | 130 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 36105 | 138 | 0.0 | 0.1 | -8 |
| Estonian | 117 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 36060 | 170 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -53 |
| Armenian | 111 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 36047 | 46 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +65 |
| Hakka | 93 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 36065 | 53 | 0.0 | 0.1 | +40 |
| Wu | 72 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 36110 | 23 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +49 |
| Nuer | 69 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 36084 | 90 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -21 |
| Māori (Cook Island) | 63 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 36078 | 59 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +4 |
| Indo-Aryan, nfd | 60 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 36070 | 1,573 | 0.1 | 0.0 | -1,513 |
| Fijian Hindustani | 45 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 36002 | 45 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Tetum | 41 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 36101 | 53 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -12 |
| Tswana | 37 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 36106 | 38 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -1 |
| Tibetan | 35 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 36103 | 23 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +12 |
| Assyrian/Aramaic | 28 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 36048 | 24 | 0.0 | 0.2 | +4 |
| Tokelauan | 13 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 36104 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +13 |
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Excludes languages spoken at home by fewer than 10 people.
Compiled and presented in profile.id by .id (informed decisions).
Compiled and presented in profile.id by .id (informed decisions).
Dominant groups
Analysis of the language used at home by the population of South Australia in 2016 compared to Victoria 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, 78.2% of the population used English only, and 16.3 used a non-English language, compared with 67.9% and 25.9% respectively for Victoria.
The dominant language used at home, other than English, in South Australia was Italian, with 1.7% of the population, or 29,106 people using this language at home.
The major difference between the languages used at home for the population of South Australia and Victoria in 2016 was:
- A smaller percentage using Mandarin at home (1.7% compared to 3.2%)
Emerging groups
Between 2011 and 2016, the number of people who used a language other than English at home increased by 44,458 or 19.4%, and the number of people who used English only increased by 8,467 or 0.6%.
The largest changes in the languages used by the population in South Australia between 2011 and 2016 were for those using:
- Mandarin (+12,253 persons)
- Punjabi (+4,881 persons)
- Italian (-4,219 persons)
- Vietnamese (+3,038 persons)