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LEARN MORE ABOUT .idIn Perth, 27.2% of people used a language other than English at home in 2021.
Perth'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.
Perth'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 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perth - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2021 | 2016 | Change | ||||
| Language summary | Number | % | Southern River % | Number | % | Southern River % | 2016 to 2021 |
| Speaks English only | 35,017 | 65.3 | 59.5 | 29,115 | 60.8 | 63.2 | +5,902 |
| Non-English total | 14,567 | 27.2 | 36.4 | 13,249 | 27.7 | 32.4 | +1,318 |
| Not stated | 4,067 | 7.6 | 4.1 | 5,526 | 11.5 | 4.4 | -1,459 |
| Total Population | 53,651 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 47,890 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +5,761 |
Show all (69 entries)
Dominant groups
Analysis of the language used at home by the population of Perth in 2021 compared to Southern River 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, 65.3% of the population used English only, and 27.2% used a non-English language, compared with 59.5% and 36.4% respectively for Southern River.
The dominant language used at home, other than English, in Perth was Mandarin, with 4.5% of the population, or 2,404 people using this language at home.
The major differences between the languages used at home for the population of Perth and Southern River in 2021 were:
- A larger percentage using Italian at home (2.1% compared to 0.4%)
- A smaller percentage using Punjabi at home (0.2% compared to 2.9%)
- A smaller percentage using Mandarin at home (4.5% compared to 6.6%)
- A smaller percentage using Tamil at home (0.3% compared to 1.9%)
Emerging groups
Between 2016 and 2021, the number of people who used a language other than English at home increased by 1,318 or 9.9%, and the number of people who used English only increased by 5,902 or 20.3%.
The largest changes in the languages used by the population in Perth between 2016 and 2021 were for those using:
- Mandarin (+486 persons)
- Italian (-333 persons)
- Spanish (+320 persons)
- Korean (-237 persons)
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