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LEARN MORE ABOUT .idIn Greater Adelaide, 21.3% of people used a language other than English at home in 2021.
Greater 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.
Greater 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 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greater Adelaide - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2021 | 2011 | Change | ||||
| Language summary | Number | % | Regional Australia % | Number | % | Regional Australia % | 2011 to 2021 |
| Speaks English only | 1,037,870 | 74.8 | 85.0 | 965,951 | 78.8 | 88.7 | +71,919 |
| Non-English total | 296,070 | 21.3 | 7.9 | 211,491 | 17.3 | 6.0 | +84,579 |
| Not stated | 53,350 | 3.8 | 7.1 | 47,783 | 3.9 | 5.2 | +5,567 |
| Total Population | 1,387,290 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 1,225,225 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +162,065 |
| Language used at home - Ranked by size | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greater Adelaide - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2021 | 2011 | Change | ||||
| Language (excludes English) | Number | % | Regional Australia % | Number | % | Regional Australia % | 2011 to 2021 |
| Mandarin | 31,056 | 2.2 | 0.5 | 15,958 | 1.3 | 0.2 | +15,098 |
| Italian | 22,644 | 1.6 | 0.4 | 31,514 | 2.6 | 0.6 | -8,870 |
| Vietnamese | 21,362 | 1.5 | 0.2 | 15,665 | 1.3 | 0.1 | +5,697 |
| Greek | 20,511 | 1.5 | 0.2 | 23,437 | 1.9 | 0.2 | -2,926 |
| Punjabi | 18,743 | 1.4 | 0.3 | 3,861 | 0.3 | 0.1 | +14,882 |
| Arabic | 10,773 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 7,270 | 0.6 | 0.2 | +3,503 |
| Cantonese | 9,958 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 8,804 | 0.7 | 0.2 | +1,154 |
| Hindi | 9,656 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 4,185 | 0.3 | 0.1 | +5,471 |
| Nepali | 9,478 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 1,681 | 0.1 | 0.0 | +7,797 |
| Filipino/Tagalog | 9,417 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 5,814 | 0.5 | 0.3 | +3,603 |
Show all (102 entries)
Dominant groups
Analysis of the language used at home by the population of Greater Adelaide in 2021 compared to Regional Australia 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, 74.8% of the population used English only, and 21.3% used a non-English language, compared with 85.0% and 7.9% respectively for Regional Australia.
The dominant language used at home, other than English, in Greater Adelaide was Mandarin, with 2.2% of the population, or 31,056 people using this language at home.
The major differences between the languages used at home for the population of Greater Adelaide and Regional Australia in 2021 were:
- A larger percentage using Mandarin at home (2.2% compared to 0.5%)
- A larger percentage using Vietnamese at home (1.5% compared to 0.2%)
- A larger percentage using Greek at home (1.5% compared to 0.2%)
- A larger percentage using Italian at home (1.6% compared to 0.4%)
Emerging groups
Between 2011 and 2021, the number of people who used a language other than English at home increased by 84,579 or 40.0%, and the number of people who used English only increased by 71,919 or 7.4%.
The largest changes in the languages used by the population in Greater Adelaide between 2011 and 2021 were for those using:
- Mandarin (+15,098 persons)
- Punjabi (+14,882 persons)
- Italian (-8,870 persons)
- Nepali (+7,797 persons)
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