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Cairns Regional CouncilCommunity profile

Cairns North

Language used at home

In Cairns North, 23.3% of people used a language other than English at home in 2021.

Cairns North'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 North'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 North - Total persons (Usual residence)20212016Change
Language summaryNumber%Cairns %Number%Cairns %2016 to 2021
Speaks English only3,16259.376.82,93056.477.7+232
Non-English total1,24423.314.11,31625.413.2-72
Not stated92817.49.294518.29.1-17
Total Population5,334100.0100.05,191100.0100.0+143
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
Cairns North - Total persons (Usual residence)20212016Change
Language (excludes English)Number%Cairns %Number%Cairns %2016 to 2021
Mandarin1102.10.71282.50.7-18
Punjabi1062.00.61663.20.5-60
Japanese951.81.41442.81.5-49
Spanish771.40.4140.30.2+63
Australian Indigenous Languages751.41.0981.90.8-23
Filipino/Tagalog711.30.8681.30.8+3
Malayalam661.20.3410.80.1+25
Korean511.00.5951.80.6-44
German450.80.5511.00.6-6
French370.70.3200.40.3+17
Show all (29 entries)

Excludes languages spoken at home by fewer than 10 people.

Dominant groups

Analysis of the language used at home by the population of Cairns North in 2021 compared to Cairns 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, 59.3% of the population used English only, and 23.3% used a non-English language, compared with 76.8% and 14.1% respectively for Cairns.

The dominant language used at home, other than English, in Cairns North was Mandarin, with 2.1% of the population, or 110 people using this language at home.

The major differences between the languages used at home for the population of Cairns North and Cairns in 2021 were:

  • A larger percentage using Mandarin at home (2.1% compared to 0.7%)
  • A larger percentage using Punjabi at home (2.0% compared to 0.6%)
  • A larger percentage using Spanish at home (1.4% compared to 0.4%)

Emerging groups

Between 2016 and 2021, the number of people who used a language other than English at home decreased by 72 or 5.5%, and the number of people who used English only increased by 232 or 7.9%.

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

  • Spanish (+63 persons)
  • Punjabi (-60 persons)

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