Powered by .id (informed decisions) for Cairns Regional Council
.id community is an evidence base for over 250 local government areas in Australia and New Zealand, helping you make informed decisions.
LEARN MORE ABOUT .idIn Cairns, 14.1% of people used a language other than English at home in 2021.
Cairns'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.
Cairns'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 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cairns - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2021 | 2001 | Change | ||||
| Language summary | Number | % | Parramatta Park % | Number | % | Parramatta Park % | 2001 to 2021 |
| Speaks English only | 128,138 | 76.8 | 58.1 | 95,158 | 84.9 | 72.8 | +32,979 |
| Non-English total | 23,472 | 14.1 | 29.2 | 9,519 | 8.5 | 17.1 | +13,953 |
| Not stated | 15,333 | 9.2 | 12.7 | 7,341 | 6.6 | 10.1 | +7,992 |
| Total Population | 166,943 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 112,018 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +54,924 |
Show all (77 entries)
Dominant groups
Analysis of the language used at home by the population of Cairns in 2021 compared to Parramatta Park 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, 76.8% of the population used English only, and 14.1% used a non-English language, compared with 58.1% and 29.2% respectively for Parramatta Park.
The dominant language used at home, other than English, in Cairns was Japanese, with 1.4% of the population, or 2,364 people using this language at home.
The major differences between the languages used at home for the population of Cairns and Parramatta Park in 2021 were:
- A smaller percentage using Mandarin at home (0.7% compared to 3.1%)
- A smaller percentage using Spanish at home (0.4% compared to 2.4%)
- A smaller percentage using Japanese at home (1.4% compared to 3.3%)
- A smaller percentage using Korean at home (0.5% compared to 2.2%)
Emerging groups
Between 2001 and 2021, the number of people who used a language other than English at home increased by 13,953 or 146.6%, and the number of people who used English only increased by 32,980 or 34.7%.
The largest changes in the languages used by the population in Cairns between 2001 and 2021 were for those using:
- Japanese (+1,281 persons)
- Nepali (+1,103 persons)
- Mandarin (+1,033 persons)
- Australian Indigenous Languages (+1,021 persons)
DISCLAIMER: While all due care has been taken to ensure that the content of this website is accurate and current, there may be errors or omissions in it and no legal responsibility is accepted for the information and opinions in this website.
Please view our Privacy Policy, Terms of use and Legal notices. Stats NZ Data and the copyright in the Stats NZ Data remains the property of the Statistics New Zealand.
The copyright in the way .id has modified, transformed or reconfigured the Stats NZ Data as published on this website remains the property of .id. Stats NZ Data can be accessed on the Statistics New Zealand website at www.stats.govt.nz. Unless otherwise specified, content that Stats NZ produce is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. For further information see https://www.stats.govt.nz/about-us/copyright/.