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LEARN MORE ABOUT .idIn the RDA Northern Territory, 32.4% of people used a language other than English at home in 2021.
The RDA Northern Territory'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 RDA Northern Territory'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 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RDA Northern Territory - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2021 | 2001 | Change | ||||
| Language summary | Number | % | Greater Darwin % | Number | % | Greater Darwin % | 2001 to 2021 |
| Speaks English only | 133,262 | 57.3 | 66.7 | 124,096 | 66.8 | 78.7 | +9,166 |
| Non-English total | 75,336 | 32.4 | 23.6 | 45,039 | 24.2 | 12.7 | +30,297 |
| Not stated | 24,007 | 10.3 | 9.8 | 16,608 | 8.9 | 8.6 | +7,399 |
| Total Population | 232,605 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 185,743 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +46,862 |
| Language used at home - Ranked by size | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RDA Northern Territory - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2021 | 2001 | Change | ||||
| Language (excludes English) | Number | % | Greater Darwin % | Number | % | Greater Darwin % | 2001 to 2021 |
| Australian Indigenous Languages | 36,077 | 15.5 | 1.0 | 31,087 | 16.7 | 1.0 | +4,990 |
| Filipino/Tagalog | 5,147 | 2.2 | 3.1 | 1,189 | 0.6 | 0.9 | +3,958 |
| Greek | 3,258 | 1.4 | 2.3 | 2,807 | 1.5 | 2.7 | +451 |
| Nepali | 3,099 | 1.3 | 1.9 | 10 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +3,089 |
| Mandarin | 2,526 | 1.1 | 1.5 | 428 | 0.2 | 0.4 | +2,098 |
| Malayalam | 1,601 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 26 | 0.0 | 0.0 | +1,575 |
| Vietnamese | 1,565 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 704 | 0.4 | 0.6 | +861 |
| Punjabi | 1,563 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 56 | 0.0 | 0.1 | +1,507 |
| Indonesian | 1,295 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 686 | 0.4 | 0.6 | +609 |
| Thai | 1,034 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 392 | 0.2 | 0.3 | +642 |
Show all (89 entries)
Dominant groups
Analysis of the language used at home by the population of the RDA Northern Territory in 2021 compared to Greater Darwin 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 32.4% used a non-English language, compared with 66.7% and 23.6% respectively for Greater Darwin.
The dominant language used at home, other than English, in the RDA Northern Territory was Australian Indigenous Languages, with 15.5% of the population, or 36,077 people using this language at home.
The major difference between the languages used at home for the population of the RDA Northern Territory and Greater Darwin in 2021 was:
- A larger percentage using Australian Indigenous Languages at home (15.5% compared to 1.0%)
Emerging groups
Between 2001 and 2021, the number of people who used a language other than English at home increased by 30,297 or 67.3%, and the number of people who used English only increased by 9,166 or 7.4%.
The largest changes in the languages used by the population in the RDA Northern Territory between 2001 and 2021 were for those using:
- Australian Indigenous Languages (+4,990 persons)
- Filipino/Tagalog (+3,958 persons)
- Nepali (+3,089 persons)
- Mandarin (+2,098 persons)
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