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City of SydneyCommunity profile
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In 2021, 48.6% of people in the City of Sydney were born overseas, compared with 38.6% in Greater Sydney.

Country of Birth data identifies where people were born and is indicative of the level of cultural diversity in the City of Sydney. The mix of Country of Birth groups is also indicative of historical settlement patterns, as source countries for Australia's immigration program have varied significantly over time.

To get a more complete picture of cultural and ethnic characteristics, the City of Sydney's Country of Birth data should be viewed together with Ancestry, Language Spoken at Home and Religion.

Please note: Due to changes in ABS rules around perturbation and additivity of data to protect the confidentiality of individuals, counts of individual birthplace groups and totals derived from them may differ slightly from those published by the ABS. For more information see notes on data confidentiality.

Q:

Derived from the Census question:

'In which country was the person born?'

Birthplace - Summary
City of Sydney - Total persons (Usual residence)20212016Change
BirthplaceNumber%Greater Sydney %Number%Greater Sydney %2016 to 2021
Total overseas born102,93148.638.699,42247.736.7+3,509
Australia94,47544.656.882,09739.457.1+12,378
Not stated14,2316.74.626,85512.96.3-12,624
Total Population211,637100.0100.0208,374100.0100.0+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
Birthplace - Ranked by size
City of Sydney - Overseas born (Usual residence)20212016Change
BirthplaceNumber%Greater Sydney %Number%Greater Sydney %2016 to 2021
China16,5837.84.620,2899.74.7-3,706
United Kingdom12,1095.73.511,1175.33.7+992
Thailand6,3813.00.56,7713.20.5-390
Indonesia5,7862.70.75,2292.50.6+557
New Zealand5,7152.71.65,4252.61.8+290
India3,8751.83.62,8051.32.7+1,070
United States of America2,8191.30.52,6851.30.5+134
Malaysia2,7801.30.72,3321.10.6+448
Hong Kong2,5341.20.92,3571.10.8+177
Philippines2,4201.11.71,8200.91.6+600
Show all (119 entries)

Excludes countries of birth with fewer than 10 people.

Dominant groups

Analysis of the country of birth of the population in the City of Sydney in 2021 compared to Greater Sydney shows that there was a larger proportion of people born overseas.

Overall, 48.6% of the population was born overseas, compared with 38.6% for Greater Sydney.

The largest non-English speaking country of birth in the City of Sydney was China, where 7.8% of the population, or 16,583 people, were born.

The major differences between the countries of birth of the population in the City of Sydney and Greater Sydney were:

  • A larger percentage of people born in China (7.8% compared to 4.6%)
  • A larger percentage of people born in Thailand (3.0% compared to 0.5%)
  • A larger percentage of people born in United Kingdom (5.7% compared to 3.5%)
  • A larger percentage of people born in Indonesia (2.7% compared to 0.7%)

Emerging groups

Between 2016 and 2021, the number of people born overseas increased by 3509 or 3.5%.

The largest changes in birthplace countries of the population in this area between 2016 and 2021 were for those born in:

  • China (-3,706 persons)
  • South Korea (-1,161 persons)
  • India (+1,070 persons)
  • Colombia (+1,036 persons)

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