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City of WhitehorseCommunity profile

City of Whitehorse

Language spoken at home

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In 2021, 76.8% of the population born overseas in the City of Whitehorse, spoke a language other than English at home.

The City of Whitehorse's language statistics show the proportion of the overseas-born population who speak a language at home other than English. They indicate how linguistically diverse a population is, and whether most migrants are from English speaking countries or non-English speaking countries. This topic also shows those languages spoken specifically by the first-generation migrants (those born overseas) so as to separate them from those born in Australia who speak another language.

Some countries, such as India, have a variety of languages spoken there, so the language spoken can indicate the region of the country of origin. Languages such as Arabic and Spanish are spoken in a range of different countries.

The City of Whitehorse's language statistics should be analysed in conjunction with Proficiency in English to assist in identifying specific cultural and ethnic groups in the area and the services required by the multicultural community.

Q:

Derived from the Census question:

'Does the person use a language other than English at home?'

Language spoken at home - Ranked by size
City of Whitehorse - born overseas20212016Change
LanguageNumber%City of Whitehorse - Total populationNumber%City of Whitehorse - Total population2016 to 2021
Mandarin22,72632.316.118,20529.212.9+4,521
Cantonese7,37110.55.56,93611.15.3+435
Hindi1,9612.81.31,5972.61.1+364
Vietnamese1,7752.51.41,5302.51.3+245
Greek1,6762.42.31,8202.92.5-144
Sinhalese1,6032.31.01,2782.00.9+325
Persian (excluding Dari)1,0811.50.89551.50.7+126
Korean1,0681.50.81,0491.70.8+19
Italian1,0101.41.01,2712.01.4-261
Punjabi9231.30.78461.40.6+77
Show all (88 entries)
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

Excludes languages with fewer than 10 people speaking them at home.

Language spoken at home - Summary
City of Whitehorse - born overseas20212016Change
Language summaryNumber%City of Whitehorse - Total populationNumber%City of Whitehorse - Total population2016 to 2021
Speaks English only15,80322.555.814,82923.859.3+974
Non-English total53,95176.840.547,30975.836.7+6,642
Not stated5210.73.72620.44.0+259
Total people70,275100.0100.062,400100.0100.0+7,875
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

Dominant groups

Analysis of the language spoken at home by the population born overseas in the City of Whitehorse in 2021 compared to the total population in the City of Whitehorse shows that there was a smaller proportion of people who spoke English only, and a larger proportion of those speaking a non-English language (either exclusively, or in addition to English).

Overall, 22.5% of the population born overseas spoke English only, and 76.8%% spoke a non-English language, compared with 55.8% and 40.5% respectively for the total population in the City of Whitehorse.

The dominant language spoken at home by the population born overseas, other than English, in the City of Whitehorse was Mandarin, with 32.3% of the population, or 22,726 people speaking this language at home.

The major differences between the languages spoken at home for the population born overseas in the City of Whitehorse and the total population in the City of Whitehorse were:

  • A larger percentage speaking Mandarin at home (32.3% compared to 16.1%)
  • A larger percentage speaking Cantonese at home (10.5% compared to 5.5%)
  • A larger percentage speaking Hindi at home (2.8% compared to 1.3%)
  • A larger percentage speaking Sinhalese at home (2.3% compared to 1.0%)

Emerging groups

Between 2016 and 2021, the number of the population born overseas who spoke a language other than English at home increased by 6,642 or 14.0%, and the number of people who spoke English only increased by 974 or 6.6%.

The largest changes in the spoken languages of the population in the City of Whitehorse between 2016 and 2021 were for those speaking:

  • Mandarin (+4,521 persons)
  • Chinese, nfd (-478 persons)
  • Cantonese (+435 persons)
  • Hindi (+364 persons)

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