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LEARN MORE ABOUT .idIn 2021, 81.2% of the population born overseas in the City of Whittlesea, spoke a language other than English at home.
The City of Whittlesea'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 City of Whittlesea'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.
Q:
Derived from the Census question:
'Does the person use a language other than English at home?'
| Language spoken at home - Ranked by size | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| City of Whittlesea - born overseas | 2021 | 2016 | Change | ||||
| Language | Number | % | City of Whittlesea - Total population | Number | % | City of Whittlesea - Total population | 2016 to 2021 |
| Punjabi | 7,522 | 8.7 | 4.3 | 5,099 | 7.3 | 3.2 | +2,423 |
| Arabic | 6,844 | 7.9 | 5.2 | 5,593 | 8.0 | 5.0 | +1,251 |
| Macedonian | 5,671 | 6.6 | 4.3 | 5,591 | 8.0 | 5.1 | +80 |
| Italian | 4,627 | 5.4 | 3.6 | 5,141 | 7.3 | 5.0 | -514 |
| Mandarin | 4,011 | 4.6 | 2.2 | 3,791 | 5.4 | 2.3 | +220 |
| Hindi | 3,797 | 4.4 | 2.0 | 2,901 | 4.1 | 1.8 | +896 |
| Greek | 3,483 | 4.0 | 3.1 | 3,483 | 5.0 | 3.7 | 0 |
| Vietnamese | 3,417 | 4.0 | 2.3 | 2,966 | 4.2 | 2.4 | +451 |
| Malayalam | 2,182 | 2.5 | 1.2 | 1,257 | 1.8 | 0.8 | +925 |
| Sinhalese | 2,111 | 2.4 | 1.1 | 1,639 | 2.3 | 1.0 | +472 |
Show all (109 entries)
| Language spoken at home - Summary | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| City of Whittlesea - born overseas | 2021 | 2016 | Change | ||||
| Language summary | Number | % | City of Whittlesea - Total population | Number | % | City of Whittlesea - Total population | 2016 to 2021 |
| Speaks English only | 14,966 | 17.3 | 50.1 | 12,358 | 17.6 | 51.1 | +2,608 |
| Non-English total | 70,103 | 81.2 | 45.1 | 57,458 | 81.9 | 44.0 | +12,645 |
| Not stated | 1,282 | 1.5 | 4.8 | 377 | 0.5 | 4.9 | +905 |
| Total people | 86,351 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 70,193 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +16,158 |
Dominant groups
Analysis of the language spoken at home by the population born overseas in the City of Whittlesea in 2021 compared to the total population in the City of Whittlesea 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, 17.3% of the population born overseas spoke English only, and 81.2%% spoke a non-English language, compared with 50.1% and 45.1% respectively for the total population in the City of Whittlesea.
The dominant language spoken at home by the population born overseas, other than English, in the City of Whittlesea was Punjabi, with 8.7% of the population, or 7,522 people speaking this language at home.
The major differences between the languages spoken at home for the population born overseas in the City of Whittlesea and the total population in the City of Whittlesea were:
- A larger percentage speaking Punjabi at home (8.7% compared to 4.3%)
- A larger percentage speaking Arabic at home (7.9% compared to 5.2%)
- A larger percentage speaking Mandarin at home (4.6% compared to 2.2%)
- A larger percentage speaking Hindi at home (4.4% compared to 2.0%)
Emerging groups
Between 2016 and 2021, the number of the population born overseas who spoke a language other than English at home increased by 12,645 or 22.0%, and the number of people who spoke English only increased by 2,608 or 21.1%.
The largest changes in the spoken languages of the population in the City of Whittlesea between 2016 and 2021 were for those speaking:
- Punjabi (+2,423 persons)
- Nepali (+1,300 persons)
- Arabic (+1,251 persons)
- Malayalam (+925 persons)
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