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City of Port PhillipCommunity profile

South Melbourne

Language used at home

In South Melbourne, 19.6% of people used a language other than English at home in 2021.

South Melbourne'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 Melbourne'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 Melbourne - Total persons (Usual residence)20212016Change
Language summaryNumber%City of Port Phillip %Number%City of Port Phillip %2016 to 2021
Speaks English only6,82774.672.56,00370.269.4+823
Non-English total1,79519.621.01,67619.620.5+119
Not stated5305.86.586910.210.1-339
Total Population9,152100.0100.08,549100.0100.0+603
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
Language used at home - Ranked by size
South Melbourne - Total persons (Usual residence)20212016Change
Language (excludes English)Number%City of Port Phillip %Number%City of Port Phillip %2016 to 2021
Greek2592.82.53073.62.6-49
Mandarin1521.72.11281.52.2+23
Russian1401.51.11892.21.3-49
Italian1191.31.2861.01.4+32
Spanish901.01.9600.71.2+29
Cantonese760.80.7560.70.7+20
Vietnamese680.70.5610.70.4+6
French630.71.0640.81.0-1
Arabic550.60.4310.40.4+24
German440.50.6500.60.7-6
Show all (29 entries)

Excludes languages spoken at home by fewer than 10 people.

Dominant groups

Analysis of the language used at home by the population of South Melbourne in 2021 compared to the City of Port Phillip shows that there was a larger proportion of people who used English only, and a smaller proportion of those using a non-English language (either exclusively, or in addition to English).

Overall, 74.6% of the population used English only, and 19.6% used a non-English language, compared with 72.5% and 21.0% respectively for the City of Port Phillip.

The dominant language used at home, other than English, in South Melbourne was Greek, with 2.8% of the population, or 259 people using this language at home.

There were no major differences between South Melbourne and City of Port Phillip in 2021.

Emerging groups

Between 2016 and 2021, the number of people who used a language other than English at home increased by 119 or 7.1%, and the number of people who used English only increased by 824 or 13.7%.

There were no major differences in South Melbourne between 2016 and 2021.

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