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LEARN MORE ABOUT .idIn Regional Australia, 7.9% of people used a language other than English at home in 2021.
Regional 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.
Regional 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.
Q:
Derived from the Census question:
'Does the person use a language other than English at home?'
| Language used at home - Summary | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regional Australia - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2021 | 2016 | Change | ||||
| Language summary | Number | % | Australia % | Number | % | Australia % | 2016 to 2021 |
| Speaks English only | 7,095,722 | 85.0 | 72.0 | 6,640,618 | 85.4 | 72.7 | +455,104 |
| Non-English total | 658,749 | 7.9 | 22.3 | 538,476 | 6.9 | 20.8 | +120,273 |
| Not stated | 590,652 | 7.1 | 5.7 | 596,297 | 7.7 | 6.5 | -5,645 |
| Total Population | 8,345,123 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 7,775,391 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +569,732 |
| Language used at home - Ranked by size | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regional Australia - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2021 | 2016 | Change | ||||
| Language (excludes English) | Number | % | Australia % | Number | % | Australia % | 2016 to 2021 |
| Australian Indigenous Languages | 69,430 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 60,038 | 0.8 | 0.3 | +9,392 |
| Mandarin | 44,912 | 0.5 | 2.7 | 37,680 | 0.5 | 2.5 | +7,232 |
| Filipino/Tagalog | 40,510 | 0.5 | 0.9 | 32,637 | 0.4 | 0.8 | +7,873 |
| Italian | 31,697 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 37,746 | 0.5 | 1.2 | -6,049 |
| Punjabi | 27,957 | 0.3 | 0.9 | 14,811 | 0.2 | 0.6 | +13,146 |
| Spanish | 23,378 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 15,827 | 0.2 | 0.6 | +7,551 |
| German | 21,084 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 23,109 | 0.3 | 0.3 | -2,025 |
| Nepali | 16,869 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 6,364 | 0.1 | 0.3 | +10,505 |
| Arabic | 16,693 | 0.2 | 1.4 | 14,542 | 0.2 | 1.4 | +2,151 |
| Afrikaans | 15,676 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 13,120 | 0.2 | 0.2 | +2,556 |
Show all (105 entries)
Dominant groups
Analysis of the language used at home by the population of Regional Australia 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, 85.0% of the population used English only, and 7.9% 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 Regional Australia was Australian Indigenous Languages, with 0.8% of the population, or 69,430 people using this language at home.
The major differences between the languages used at home for the population of Regional Australia and Australia in 2021 were:
- A smaller percentage using Mandarin at home (0.5% compared to 2.7%)
- A smaller percentage using Arabic at home (0.2% compared to 1.4%)
- A smaller percentage using Vietnamese at home (0.2% compared to 1.3%)
- A smaller percentage using Cantonese at home (0.2% compared to 1.2%)
Emerging groups
Between 2016 and 2021, the number of people who used a language other than English at home increased by 120,273 or 22.3%, and the number of people who used English only increased by 455,104 or 6.9%.
The largest changes in the languages used by the population in Regional Australia between 2016 and 2021 were for those using:
- Punjabi (+13,146 persons)
- Nepali (+10,505 persons)
- Australian Indigenous Languages (+9,392 persons)
- Filipino/Tagalog (+7,873 persons)
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