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City of TownsvilleCommunity profile

City of Townsville

Language used at home

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In the City of Townsville, 7.9% of people used a language other than English at home in 2021.

The City of Townsville'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.

The City of Townsville'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
City of Townsville - Total persons (Usual residence)20212016Change
Language summaryNumber%Division 8 %Number%Division 8 %2016 to 2021
Speaks English only161,77483.980.2159,07785.283.3+2,697
Non-English total15,2397.911.413,3317.110.7+1,908
Not stated15,7558.28.414,3517.76.0+1,404
Total Population192,768100.0100.0186,759100.0100.0+6,009
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
City of Townsville - Total persons (Usual residence)20212016Change
Language (excludes English)Number%Division 8 %Number%Division 8 %2016 to 2021
Filipino/Tagalog1,5020.81.51,2860.71.4+216
Australian Indigenous Languages7940.40.84650.20.3+329
Malayalam7930.40.35570.30.3+236
Italian6700.30.48380.40.5-168
Mandarin5630.30.45790.30.5-16
Swahili5230.30.82380.10.4+285
Spanish4880.30.34230.20.3+65
German4750.20.15550.30.3-80
Afrikaans4420.20.14450.20.1-3
Vietnamese4290.20.43510.20.4+78
Show all (74 entries)

Excludes languages spoken at home by fewer than 10 people.

Dominant groups

Analysis of the language used at home by the population of the City of Townsville in 2021 compared to Division 8 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, 83.9% of the population used English only, and 7.9% used a non-English language, compared with 80.2% and 11.4% respectively for Division 8.

The dominant language used at home, other than English, in the City of Townsville was Filipino/Tagalog, with 0.8% of the population, or 1,502 people using this language at home.

There were no major differences between City of Townsville and Division 8 in 2021.

Emerging groups

Between 2016 and 2021, the number of people who used a language other than English at home increased by 1,908 or 14.3%, and the number of people who used English only increased by 2,697 or 1.7%.

The largest changes in the languages used by the population in the City of Townsville between 2016 and 2021 were for those using:

  • Australian Indigenous Languages (+329 persons)
  • Swahili (+285 persons)
  • Malayalam (+236 persons)
  • Filipino/Tagalog (+216 persons)

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