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LEARN MORE ABOUT .idIn Regional VIC, 7.1% of people used a language other than English at home in 2021.
Regional VIC'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.
Regional VIC'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 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regional VIC - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2021 | 2016 | Change | ||||
| Language summary | Number | % | Victoria % | Number | % | Victoria % | 2016 to 2021 |
| Speaks English only | 1,362,298 | 86.4 | 67.2 | 1,241,404 | 86.6 | 67.9 | +120,894 |
| Non-English total | 112,315 | 7.1 | 27.6 | 85,713 | 6.0 | 25.9 | +26,602 |
| Not stated | 102,000 | 6.5 | 5.3 | 106,697 | 7.4 | 6.2 | -4,697 |
| Total Population | 1,576,613 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 1,433,814 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +142,799 |
| Language used at home - Ranked by size | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regional VIC - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2021 | 2016 | Change | ||||
| Language (excludes English) | Number | % | Victoria % | Number | % | Victoria % | 2016 to 2021 |
| Mandarin | 9,007 | 0.6 | 3.4 | 6,606 | 0.5 | 3.2 | +2,401 |
| Italian | 8,651 | 0.5 | 1.4 | 10,356 | 0.7 | 1.9 | -1,705 |
| Punjabi | 7,251 | 0.5 | 1.6 | 3,377 | 0.2 | 0.9 | +3,874 |
| Filipino/Tagalog | 6,456 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 4,223 | 0.3 | 0.7 | +2,233 |
| Arabic | 3,692 | 0.2 | 1.4 | 3,223 | 0.2 | 1.3 | +469 |
| Malayalam | 3,598 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 1,964 | 0.1 | 0.3 | +1,634 |
| Greek | 3,469 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 3,280 | 0.2 | 1.9 | +189 |
| Vietnamese | 3,440 | 0.2 | 1.8 | 1,950 | 0.1 | 1.7 | +1,490 |
| German | 3,108 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 3,534 | 0.2 | 0.3 | -426 |
| Karen | 2,910 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 1,691 | 0.1 | 0.1 | +1,219 |
Show all (103 entries)
Dominant groups
Analysis of the language used at home by the population of Regional VIC in 2021 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, 86.4% of the population used English only, and 7.1% used a non-English language, compared with 67.2% and 27.6% respectively for Victoria.
The dominant language used at home, other than English, in Regional VIC was Mandarin, with 0.6% of the population, or 9,007 people using this language at home.
The major differences between the languages used at home for the population of Regional VIC and Victoria in 2021 were:
- A smaller percentage using Mandarin at home (0.6% compared to 3.4%)
- A smaller percentage using Vietnamese at home (0.2% compared to 1.8%)
- A smaller percentage using Greek at home (0.2% compared to 1.6%)
- A smaller percentage using Arabic at home (0.2% compared to 1.4%)
Emerging groups
Between 2016 and 2021, the number of people who used a language other than English at home increased by 26,602 or 31.0%, and the number of people who used English only increased by 120,894 or 9.7%.
The largest changes in the languages used by the population in Regional VIC between 2016 and 2021 were for those using:
- Punjabi (+3,874 persons)
- Mandarin (+2,401 persons)
- Filipino/Tagalog (+2,233 persons)
- Italian (-1,705 persons)
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