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Willoughby City CouncilCommunity profile

Willoughby City

Language spoken at home

In 2021, 69.4% of the population born overseas in Willoughby City Council, spoke a language other than English at home.

Willoughby City Council'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.

Willoughby City Council'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
Willoughby City Council - born overseas20212016Change
LanguageNumber%Willoughby City - Total populationNumber%Willoughby City - Total population2016 to 2021
Mandarin7,88122.512.97,59622.412.1+285
Cantonese4,60713.17.84,40213.07.4+205
Korean1,4374.12.32,0846.23.3-647
Japanese1,3043.72.41,3764.12.4-72
Hindi9672.81.47402.21.1+227
Thai4851.40.74111.20.7+74
Indonesian4771.40.74781.40.7-1
Spanish4721.30.84051.20.7+67
Armenian4531.31.04881.41.1-35
Nepali4361.20.63521.00.5+84
Show all (63 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
Willoughby City Council - born overseas20212016Change
Language summaryNumber%Willoughby City - Total populationNumber%Willoughby City - Total population2016 to 2021
Speaks English only10,44229.855.59,66228.555.0+780
Non-English total24,35969.441.024,10571.240.2+254
Not stated2920.83.5860.34.8+206
Total people35,093100.0100.033,853100.0100.0+1,240
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 Willoughby City Council in 2021 compared to the total population in Willoughby City Council 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, 29.8% of the population born overseas spoke English only, and 69.4%% spoke a non-English language, compared with 55.5% and 41.0% respectively for the total population in Willoughby City Council.

The dominant language spoken at home by the population born overseas, other than English, in Willoughby City Council was Mandarin, with 22.5% of the population, or 7,881 people speaking this language at home.

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

  • A larger percentage speaking Mandarin at home (22.5% compared to 12.9%)
  • A larger percentage speaking Cantonese at home (13.1% compared to 7.8%)
  • A larger percentage speaking Korean at home (4.1% compared to 2.3%)
  • A larger percentage speaking Japanese at home (3.7% compared to 2.4%)

Emerging groups

Between 2016 and 2021, the number of the population born overseas who spoke a language other than English at home increased by 254 or 1.1%, and the number of people who spoke English only increased by 780 or 8.1%.

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

  • Korean (-647 persons)
  • Mandarin (+285 persons)
  • Hindi (+227 persons)
  • Cantonese (+205 persons)

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