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 | 2006 | Change | ||||
| Language summary | Number | % | COMSEQ excluding Gold Coast % | Number | % | COMSEQ excluding Gold Coast % | 2006 to 2021 |
| Speaks English only | 2,986,962 | 79.5 | 79.3 | 2,332,592 | 85.4 | 85.7 | +654,370 |
| Non-English total | 575,950 | 15.3 | 15.7 | 244,876 | 9.0 | 9.0 | +331,073 |
| Not stated | 196,053 | 5.2 | 5.1 | 155,319 | 5.7 | 5.3 | +40,733 |
| Total Population | 3,758,965 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 2,732,788 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +1,026,176 |
| Language used at home - Ranked by size | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South East Queensland - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2021 | 2006 | Change | ||||
| Language (excludes English) | Number | % | COMSEQ excluding Gold Coast % | Number | % | COMSEQ excluding Gold Coast % | 2006 to 2021 |
| Mandarin | 78,688 | 2.1 | 2.1 | 23,421 | 0.9 | 0.9 | +55,267 |
| Vietnamese | 28,925 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 16,411 | 0.6 | 0.7 | +12,514 |
| Punjabi | 27,230 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 1,618 | 0.1 | 0.1 | +25,612 |
| Spanish | 26,336 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 9,926 | 0.4 | 0.4 | +16,409 |
| Cantonese | 25,765 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 18,367 | 0.7 | 0.7 | +7,397 |
| Filipino/Tagalog | 25,555 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 8,923 | 0.3 | 0.3 | +16,632 |
| Korean | 19,929 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 6,802 | 0.2 | 0.2 | +13,127 |
| Hindi | 19,649 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 7,348 | 0.3 | 0.3 | +12,301 |
| Samoan | 15,919 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 8,995 | 0.3 | 0.4 | +6,924 |
| Arabic | 15,067 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 6,903 | 0.3 | 0.3 | +8,164 |
Show all (105 entries)
Dominant groups
Analysis of the language used at home by the population of South East Queensland in 2021 compared to COMSEQ excluding Gold Coast shows that there was a similar proportion of people who used English only, as well as a similar 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 79.3% and 15.7% respectively for COMSEQ excluding Gold Coast.
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.
There were no major differences between South East Queensland and COMSEQ excluding Gold Coast in 2021.
Emerging groups
Between 2006 and 2021, the number of people who used a language other than English at home increased by 331,074 or 135.2%, and the number of people who used English only increased by 654,370 or 28.1%.
The largest changes in the languages used by the population in South East Queensland between 2006 and 2021 were for those using:
- Mandarin (+55,267 persons)
- Punjabi (+25,612 persons)
- Filipino/Tagalog (+16,632 persons)
- Spanish (+16,409 persons)
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