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LEARN MORE ABOUT .idIn 2021, 54.1% of the population born overseas in the Inner West Council, spoke a language other than English at home.
The Inner West 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.
The Inner West 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.
'Does the person use a language other than English at home?'
Language spoken at home - Ranked by size | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Inner West Council - born overseas | 2021 | 2016 | Change | ||||
Language | Number | % | Inner West Council area - Total population | Number | % | Inner West Council area - Total population | 2016 to 2021 |
Mandarin | 4,850 | 8.0 | 3.3 | 5,511 | 8.8 | 3.6 | -661 |
Vietnamese | 2,564 | 4.2 | 2.0 | 2,715 | 4.3 | 2.0 | -151 |
Greek | 2,491 | 4.1 | 2.7 | 2,811 | 4.5 | 2.9 | -320 |
Cantonese | 2,438 | 4.0 | 1.9 | 2,538 | 4.1 | 1.9 | -100 |
Italian | 2,401 | 3.9 | 2.2 | 3,019 | 4.8 | 2.8 | -618 |
Spanish | 1,921 | 3.2 | 1.5 | 1,916 | 3.1 | 1.5 | +5 |
Nepali | 1,811 | 3.0 | 1.1 | 2,265 | 3.6 | 1.3 | -454 |
Portuguese | 1,544 | 2.5 | 1.1 | 1,584 | 2.5 | 1.1 | -40 |
Arabic | 1,227 | 2.0 | 1.2 | 1,366 | 2.2 | 1.3 | -139 |
Thai | 1,008 | 1.7 | 0.7 | 1,284 | 2.1 | 0.8 | -276 |
Language spoken at home - Summary | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Inner West Council - born overseas | 2021 | 2016 | Change | ||||
Language summary | Number | % | Inner West Council area - Total population | Number | % | Inner West Council area - Total population | 2016 to 2021 |
Speaks English only | 27,327 | 44.8 | 69.7 | 24,780 | 39.7 | 64.4 | +2,547 |
Non-English total | 32,977 | 54.1 | 25.8 | 37,378 | 59.9 | 28.4 | -4,401 |
Not stated | 642 | 1.1 | 4.5 | 281 | 0.5 | 7.2 | +361 |
Total people | 60,946 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 62,439 | 100.0 | 100.0 | -1,493 |
Analysis of the language spoken at home by the population born overseas in the Inner West Council in 2021 compared to the total population in the Inner West 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, 44.8% of the population born overseas spoke English only, and 54.1%% spoke a non-English language, compared with 69.7% and 25.8% respectively for the total population in the Inner West Council.
The dominant language spoken at home by the population born overseas, other than English, in the Inner West Council was Mandarin, with 8.0% of the population, or 4,850 people speaking this language at home.
The major differences between the languages spoken at home for the population born overseas in Inner West Council area and the total population in the Inner West Council were:
Between 2016 and 2021, the number of the population born overseas who spoke a language other than English at home decreased by 4,401 or 11.8%, and the number of people who spoke English only increased by 2,547 or 10.3%.
The largest changes in the spoken languages of the population in Inner West Council area between 2016 and 2021 were for those speaking:
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