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AustraliaCommunity profile

Greater Sydney

Language used at home

In Greater Sydney, 37.4% of people used a language other than English at home in 2021.

Greater Sydney'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 Sydney'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 Sydney - Total persons (Usual residence)20212016Change
Language summaryNumber%Australia %Number%Australia %2016 to 2021
Speaks English only2,995,24057.372.02,816,81458.472.7+178,426
Non-English total1,957,40937.422.31,725,43335.820.8+231,976
Not stated278,4985.35.7281,7465.86.5-3,248
Total Population5,231,147100.0100.04,823,993100.0100.0+407,154
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2016 and 2021. Compiled and presented by .id (informed decisions).
Please refer to specific data notes for more information
Language used at home - Ranked by size
Greater Sydney - Total persons (Usual residence)20212016Change
Language (excludes English)Number%Australia %Number%Australia %2016 to 2021
Mandarin259,4295.02.7228,9854.72.5+30,444
Arabic219,4834.21.4194,0494.01.4+25,434
Cantonese144,5382.81.2138,8182.91.2+5,720
Vietnamese113,1542.21.399,3012.11.2+13,853
Hindi76,3081.50.864,1011.30.7+12,207
Greek73,1631.40.976,2011.61.0-3,038
Filipino/Tagalog72,4321.40.962,0801.30.8+10,352
Spanish63,3951.20.756,9291.20.6+6,466
Nepali61,6431.20.532,5350.70.3+29,108
Korean60,1161.10.557,7891.20.5+2,327
Show all (105 entries)

Excludes languages spoken at home by fewer than 10 people.

Dominant groups

Analysis of the language used at home by the population of Greater Sydney in 2021 compared to 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, 57.3% of the population used English only, and 37.4% 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 Greater Sydney was Mandarin, with 5.0% of the population, or 259,429 people using this language at home.

The major differences between the languages used at home for the population of Greater Sydney and Australia in 2021 were:

  • A larger percentage using Arabic at home (4.2% compared to 1.4%)
  • A larger percentage using Mandarin at home (5.0% compared to 2.7%)
  • A larger percentage using Cantonese at home (2.8% 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 231,976 or 13.4%, and the number of people who used English only increased by 178,426 or 6.3%.

The largest changes in the languages used by the population in Greater Sydney between 2016 and 2021 were for those using:

  • Mandarin (+30,444 persons)
  • Nepali (+29,108 persons)
  • Arabic (+25,434 persons)
  • Punjabi (+15,749 persons)

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