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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 | 2011 | Change | ||||
| Language summary | Number | % | Australia % | Number | % | Australia % | 2011 to 2021 |
| Speaks English only | 2,838,809 | 79.2 | 72.0 | 2,416,897 | 83.4 | 76.8 | +421,912 |
| Non-English total | 560,364 | 15.6 | 22.3 | 337,558 | 11.6 | 18.2 | +222,806 |
| Not stated | 186,588 | 5.2 | 5.7 | 143,521 | 5.0 | 5.1 | +43,067 |
| Total Population | 3,585,761 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 2,897,976 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +687,785 |
| Language used at home - Ranked by size | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South East Queensland - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2021 | 2011 | Change | ||||
| Language (excludes English) | Number | % | Australia % | Number | % | Australia % | 2011 to 2021 |
| Mandarin | 77,493 | 2.2 | 2.7 | 35,597 | 1.2 | 1.6 | +41,896 |
| Vietnamese | 28,731 | 0.8 | 1.3 | 20,083 | 0.7 | 1.1 | +8,648 |
| Punjabi | 26,528 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 6,781 | 0.2 | 0.3 | +19,747 |
| Spanish | 26,010 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 13,791 | 0.5 | 0.5 | +12,219 |
| Cantonese | 25,532 | 0.7 | 1.2 | 20,483 | 0.7 | 1.2 | +5,049 |
| Filipino/Tagalog | 24,338 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 14,383 | 0.5 | 0.6 | +9,955 |
| Korean | 19,665 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 11,330 | 0.4 | 0.4 | +8,335 |
| Hindi | 19,304 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 11,845 | 0.4 | 0.5 | +7,459 |
| Samoan | 15,877 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 12,260 | 0.4 | 0.2 | +3,617 |
| Japanese | 14,383 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 10,115 | 0.3 | 0.2 | +4,268 |
Show all (105 entries)
Dominant groups
Analysis of the language used at home by the population of South East Queensland in 2021 compared to Australia 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 72.0% and 22.3% respectively for Australia.
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 difference between the languages used at home for the population of South East Queensland and Australia in 2021 was:
- A smaller percentage using Arabic at home (0.4% compared to 1.4%)
Emerging groups
Between 2011 and 2021, the number of people who used a language other than English at home increased by 222,806 or 66.0%, and the number of people who used English only increased by 421,912 or 17.5%.
The largest changes in the languages used by the population in South East Queensland between 2011 and 2021 were for those using:
- Mandarin (+41,896 persons)
- Punjabi (+19,747 persons)
- Spanish (+12,219 persons)
- Filipino/Tagalog (+9,955 persons)
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