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LEARN MORE ABOUT .idIn the Rest of Sydney, 32.5% of people used a language other than English at home in 2021.
The Rest of 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.
The Rest of 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 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rest of Sydney - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2021 | 2016 | Change | ||||
| Language summary | Number | % | Western Sydney (LGA) % | Number | % | Western Sydney (LGA) % | 2016 to 2021 |
| Speaks English only | 1,433,015 | 62.9 | 48.3 | 1,351,103 | 61.7 | 51.0 | +81,912 |
| Non-English total | 740,886 | 32.5 | 45.7 | 701,044 | 32.0 | 43.6 | +39,842 |
| Not stated | 104,011 | 4.6 | 6.0 | 136,900 | 6.3 | 5.5 | -32,889 |
| Total Population | 2,277,912 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 2,189,047 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +88,865 |
| Language used at home - Ranked by size | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rest of Sydney - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2021 | 2016 | Change | ||||
| Language (excludes English) | Number | % | Western Sydney (LGA) % | Number | % | Western Sydney (LGA) % | 2016 to 2021 |
| Mandarin | 154,850 | 6.8 | 3.9 | 146,279 | 6.7 | 3.5 | +8,571 |
| Cantonese | 80,479 | 3.5 | 2.4 | 77,136 | 3.5 | 2.6 | +3,343 |
| Greek | 42,148 | 1.9 | 1.2 | 43,884 | 2.0 | 1.4 | -1,736 |
| Arabic | 33,371 | 1.5 | 7.1 | 31,804 | 1.5 | 7.0 | +1,567 |
| Spanish | 33,279 | 1.5 | 1.1 | 27,143 | 1.2 | 1.2 | +6,136 |
| Italian | 30,263 | 1.3 | 0.8 | 34,973 | 1.6 | 1.2 | -4,710 |
| Nepali | 28,139 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 18,388 | 0.8 | 0.6 | +9,751 |
| Korean | 27,915 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 30,678 | 1.4 | 1.1 | -2,763 |
| Portuguese | 19,555 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 14,650 | 0.7 | 0.2 | +4,905 |
| Filipino/Tagalog | 18,803 | 0.8 | 2.0 | 16,447 | 0.8 | 1.9 | +2,356 |
Show all (99 entries)
Dominant groups
Analysis of the language used at home by the population of the Rest of Sydney in 2021 compared to Western Sydney (LGA) 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, 62.9% of the population used English only, and 32.5% used a non-English language, compared with 48.3% and 45.7% respectively for Western Sydney (LGA).
The dominant language used at home, other than English, in the Rest of Sydney was Mandarin, with 6.8% of the population, or 154,850 people using this language at home.
The major differences between the languages used at home for the population of the Rest of Sydney and Western Sydney (LGA) in 2021 were:
- A larger percentage using Mandarin at home (6.8% compared to 3.9%)
- A smaller percentage using Arabic at home (1.5% compared to 7.1%)
- A smaller percentage using Vietnamese at home (0.8% compared to 3.7%)
- A smaller percentage using Hindi at home (0.8% compared to 2.2%)
Emerging groups
Between 2016 and 2021, the number of people who used a language other than English at home increased by 39,842 or 5.7%, and the number of people who used English only increased by 81,912 or 6.1%.
The largest changes in the languages used by the population in the Rest of Sydney between 2016 and 2021 were for those using:
- Nepali (+9,751 persons)
- Mandarin (+8,571 persons)
- Spanish (+6,136 persons)
- Portuguese (+4,905 persons)
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