Powered by .id (informed decisions) for South East Queensland
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LEARN MORE ABOUT .idIn South East Queensland, 15.3% of people used a language other than English at home in 2021.
South East Queensland'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.
South East Queensland'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 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South East Queensland - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2021 | 2016 | Change | ||||
| Language summary | Number | % | Sunshine Coast Council % | Number | % | Sunshine Coast Council % | 2016 to 2021 |
| Speaks English only | 2,986,962 | 79.5 | 88.8 | 2,694,277 | 80.0 | 89.2 | +292,685 |
| Non-English total | 575,950 | 15.3 | 6.1 | 462,135 | 13.7 | 5.0 | +113,815 |
| Not stated | 196,053 | 5.2 | 5.1 | 210,469 | 6.3 | 5.8 | -14,416 |
| Total Population | 3,758,965 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 3,366,881 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +392,084 |
| Language used at home - Ranked by size | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South East Queensland - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2021 | 2016 | Change | ||||
| Language (excludes English) | Number | % | Sunshine Coast Council % | Number | % | Sunshine Coast Council % | 2016 to 2021 |
| Mandarin | 78,688 | 2.1 | 0.3 | 65,018 | 1.9 | 0.3 | +13,670 |
| Vietnamese | 28,925 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 23,932 | 0.7 | 0.1 | +4,993 |
| Punjabi | 27,230 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 15,234 | 0.5 | 0.1 | +11,996 |
| Spanish | 26,336 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 19,075 | 0.6 | 0.2 | +7,261 |
| Cantonese | 25,765 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 23,229 | 0.7 | 0.1 | +2,536 |
| Filipino/Tagalog | 25,555 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 19,660 | 0.6 | 0.2 | +5,895 |
| Korean | 19,929 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 17,415 | 0.5 | 0.1 | +2,514 |
| Hindi | 19,649 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 16,539 | 0.5 | 0.1 | +3,110 |
| Samoan | 15,919 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 14,459 | 0.4 | 0.0 | +1,460 |
| Arabic | 15,067 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 12,845 | 0.4 | 0.1 | +2,222 |
Show all (105 entries)
Dominant groups
Analysis of the language used at home by the population of South East Queensland in 2021 compared to Sunshine Coast Council 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, 79.5% of the population used English only, and 15.3% used a non-English language, compared with 88.8% and 6.1% respectively for Sunshine Coast Council.
The dominant language used at home, other than English, in South East Queensland was Mandarin, with 2.1% of the population, or 78,688 people using this language at home.
The major difference between the languages used at home for the population of South East Queensland and Sunshine Coast Council in 2021 was:
- A larger percentage using Mandarin at home (2.1% compared to 0.3%)
Emerging groups
Between 2016 and 2021, the number of people who used a language other than English at home increased by 113,815 or 24.6%, and the number of people who used English only increased by 292,685 or 10.9%.
The largest changes in the languages used by the population in South East Queensland between 2016 and 2021 were for those using:
- Mandarin (+13,670 persons)
- Punjabi (+11,996 persons)
- Spanish (+7,261 persons)
- Portuguese (+6,159 persons)
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