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City of BoroondaraCommunity profile

Canterbury

Language used at home

In Canterbury, 26.5% of people used a language other than English at home in 2021.

Canterbury'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.

Canterbury'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
Canterbury - Total persons (Usual residence)20212016Change
Language summaryNumber%Greater Melbourne %Number%Greater Melbourne %2016 to 2021
Speaks English only5,36970.561.15,89973.362.0-530
Non-English total2,01726.534.11,80622.432.3+211
Not stated2283.04.83484.35.7-120
Total Population7,614100.0100.08,053100.0100.0-439
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
Canterbury - Total persons (Usual residence)20212016Change
Language (excludes English)Number%Greater Melbourne %Number%Greater Melbourne %2016 to 2021
Mandarin1,00913.34.37989.94.1+211
Cantonese1722.31.61962.41.7-24
Greek1051.42.1921.12.4+13
Vietnamese951.22.3310.42.3+64
Italian660.91.71051.32.3-39
French470.60.3610.80.4-14
Spanish390.50.8290.40.8+10
Gujarati330.40.5300.40.3+3
Arabic320.41.8210.31.7+11
Hindi280.41.3260.31.1+2
Show all (26 entries)

Excludes languages spoken at home by fewer than 10 people.

Dominant groups

Analysis of the language used at home by the population of Canterbury in 2021 compared to Greater Melbourne 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, 70.5% of the population used English only, and 26.5% used a non-English language, compared with 61.1% and 34.1% respectively for Greater Melbourne.

The dominant language used at home, other than English, in Canterbury was Mandarin, with 13.3% of the population, or 1,009 people using this language at home.

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

  • A larger percentage using Mandarin at home (13.3% compared to 4.3%)
  • A smaller percentage using Punjabi at home (0.1% compared to 2.0%)
  • A smaller percentage using Arabic at home (0.4% compared to 1.8%)
  • A smaller percentage using Vietnamese at home (1.2% compared to 2.3%)

Emerging groups

Between 2016 and 2021, the number of people who used a language other than English at home increased by 211 or 11.7%, and the number of people who used English only decreased by 530 or 9.0%.

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

  • Mandarin (+211 persons)
  • Vietnamese (+64 persons)

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