Powered by .id (informed decisions) for Australia
.id community is an evidence base for over 250 local government areas in Australia and New Zealand, helping you make informed decisions.
LEARN MORE ABOUT .idIn Greater Melbourne, 34.1% of people used a language other than English at home in 2021.
Greater Melbourne'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 Melbourne'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 Melbourne - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2021 | 2001 | Change | ||||
| Language summary | Number | % | Western Australia % | Number | % | Western Australia % | 2001 to 2021 |
| Speaks English only | 3,003,007 | 61.1 | 75.3 | 2,381,835 | 69.9 | 84.0 | +621,172 |
| Non-English total | 1,678,490 | 34.1 | 18.4 | 857,376 | 25.2 | 11.2 | +821,114 |
| Not stated | 236,253 | 4.8 | 6.3 | 166,260 | 4.9 | 4.8 | +69,993 |
| Total Population | 4,917,750 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 3,405,471 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +1,512,279 |
| Language used at home - Ranked by size | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greater Melbourne - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2021 | 2001 | Change | ||||
| Language (excludes English) | Number | % | Western Australia % | Number | % | Western Australia % | 2001 to 2021 |
| Mandarin | 212,680 | 4.3 | 1.9 | 37,950 | 1.1 | 0.6 | +174,730 |
| Vietnamese | 115,314 | 2.3 | 0.9 | 62,943 | 1.8 | 0.7 | +52,371 |
| Greek | 103,658 | 2.1 | 0.2 | 118,898 | 3.5 | 0.3 | -15,240 |
| Punjabi | 97,684 | 2.0 | 0.8 | 3,628 | 0.1 | 0.0 | +94,056 |
| Arabic | 87,689 | 1.8 | 0.6 | 45,673 | 1.3 | 0.3 | +42,016 |
| Italian | 83,637 | 1.7 | 1.0 | 134,882 | 4.0 | 2.0 | -51,245 |
| Cantonese | 80,584 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 59,364 | 1.7 | 0.8 | +21,220 |
| Hindi | 64,259 | 1.3 | 0.4 | 10,395 | 0.3 | 0.1 | +53,864 |
| Sinhalese | 47,504 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 11,421 | 0.3 | 0.1 | +36,083 |
| Filipino/Tagalog | 46,168 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 16,805 | 0.5 | 0.2 | +29,363 |
Show all (105 entries)
Dominant groups
Analysis of the language used at home by the population of Greater Melbourne in 2021 compared to Western 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, 61.1% of the population used English only, and 34.1% used a non-English language, compared with 75.3% and 18.4% respectively for Western Australia.
The dominant language used at home, other than English, in Greater Melbourne was Mandarin, with 4.3% of the population, or 212,680 people using this language at home.
The major differences between the languages used at home for the population of Greater Melbourne and Western Australia in 2021 were:
- A larger percentage using Mandarin at home (4.3% compared to 1.9%)
- A larger percentage using Greek at home (2.1% compared to 0.2%)
- A larger percentage using Vietnamese at home (2.3% compared to 0.9%)
- A larger percentage using Punjabi at home (2.0% compared to 0.8%)
Emerging groups
Between 2001 and 2021, the number of people who used a language other than English at home increased by 821,114 or 95.8%, and the number of people who used English only increased by 621,172 or 26.1%.
The largest changes in the languages used by the population in Greater Melbourne between 2001 and 2021 were for those using:
- Mandarin (+174,730 persons)
- Punjabi (+94,056 persons)
- Hindi (+53,864 persons)
- Vietnamese (+52,371 persons)
DISCLAIMER: While all due care has been taken to ensure that the content of this website is accurate and current, there may be errors or omissions in it and no legal responsibility is accepted for the information and opinions in this website.
Please view our Privacy Policy, Terms of use and Legal notices.
ABS Data and the copyright in the ABS Data remains the property of the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The copyright in the way .id has modified, transformed or reconfigured the ABS Data as published on this website remains the property of .id. ABS Data can be accessed from the Australian Bureau of Statistics at www.abs.gov.au. ABS data can be used under license - terms published on ABS website. intermediary.management@abs.gov.au if you have any queries or wish to distribute any ABS data.