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Wollongong City CouncilCommunity profile

Wollongong City

Language spoken at home

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In 2021, 95.1% of the population born in China in Wollongong City Council, spoke a language other than English at home.

Wollongong 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.

Wollongong 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
Wollongong City Council - born in China20212016Change
LanguageNumber%Regional NSWNumber%Regional NSW2016 to 2021
Mandarin1,54882.668.02,39078.966.0-842
Cantonese1568.316.82157.116.8-59
Chinese, nfd512.72.031410.47.3-263
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
Wollongong City Council - born in China20212016Change
Language summaryNumber%Regional NSWNumber%Regional NSW2016 to 2021
Speaks English only914.98.5832.76.4+8
Non-English total1,78495.189.92,94597.392.2-1,161
Not stated00.01.600.01.30
Total people1,875100.0100.03,028100.0100.0-1,153
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 in China in Wollongong City Council in 2021 compared to Regional NSW 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, 4.9% of the population born in China spoke English only, and 95.1%% spoke a non-English language, compared with 8.5% and 89.9% respectively for Regional NSW.

The dominant language spoken at home by the population born in China, other than English, in Wollongong City Council was Mandarin, with 82.6% of the population, or 1,548 people speaking this language at home.

The major differences between the languages spoken at home for the population born in China in Wollongong City and Regional NSW were:

  • A larger percentage speaking Mandarin at home (82.6% compared to 68.0%)
  • A smaller percentage speaking Cantonese at home (8.3% compared to 16.8%)

Emerging groups

Between 2016 and 2021, the number of the population born in China who spoke a language other than English at home decreased by 1,161 or 39.4%, and the number of people who spoke English only increased by 8 or 9.6%.

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

  • Mandarin (-842 persons)
  • Chinese, nfd (-263 persons)
  • Cantonese (-59 persons)

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