Key multicultural stats for NSW from the 2016 Census.
NSW is one of Australia’s most culturally diverse states where one in four (25%) speaks a language other than English at home. In Sydney the figure rises to one in three (36%). This is due to the high concentration of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) audiences in greater Sydney, only 8% of CALD audiences live outside of Sydney.
Top languages spoken in NSW
The top languages (other than English) spoken at home in NSW and their English proficiency are shown below. The top five languages are unchanged since 2006, however the order have changed.
Mandarin is now the state’s most spoken language, overtaking Arabic. Mandarin is up 72% since the past Census, Hindi is up by 27% and Korean by 26%. All language groups in the top 10 have recorded increases except Greek, down 6% and Italian, down 9% since the 2011 Census.
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Rank Language High Proficiency Low Proficiency Total Not applicable Grand Total
1 Mandarin 170426 68165 238591 1351 239947
2 Arabic 167006 31935 198941 1882 200828
3 Cantonese 103820 38770 142590 746 143338
4 Vietnamese 68948 33346 102294 604 102896
5 Greek 68294 12576 80870 816 81685
6 Italian 65141 9594 74735 959 75697
7 Hindi 63456 3020 66476 562 67037
8 Spanish 55340 7518 62858 672 63523
9 Korean 39428 19952 59380 533 59914
10 Tagalog 43363 1313 44676 451 45133
11 Nepali 31883 2434 34317 283 34608
12 Punjabi 29658 3480 33138 291 33429
13 Bengali 28944 2530 31474 207 31687
14 Indonesian 26836 2979 29815 219 30032
15 Urdu 26951 2430 29381 330 29723
16 Tamil 26793 2669 29462 206 29676
17 Macedonian 23063 4749 27812 326 28144
18 Thai 18205 6396 24601 232 24841
19 Filipino 23333 673 24006 209 24211
20 French 22566 958 23524 222 23743
21 German 22090 662 22752 284 23029
22 Portuguese 19524 3233 22757 238 23005
23 Persian (excluding Dari) 17872 3955 21827 209 22044
24 Turkish 17425 3989 21414 210 21623
25 Serbian 17554 3709 21263 220 21489
26 Croatian 18186 2759 20945 208 21149
27 Assyrian Neo-Aramaic 15608 4512 20120 193 20316
28 Gujarati 16971 1779 18750 127 18875
29 Russian 15838 2823 18661 110 18765
30 Japanese 14587 2598 17185 136 17321
31 Samoan 14833 1370 16203 338 16544
32 Polish 12547 1452 13999 126 14127
33 Malayalam 12748 1034 13782 96 13885
34 Telugu 11541 816 12357 100 12463
35 Maltese 11264 897 12161 167 12328
37 Khmer 7628 3938 11566 119 11697
38 Sinhalese 10741 435 11176 56 11232
39 Tongan 9175 949 10124 160 10286
40 Chaldean Neo-Aramaic 6229 3049 9278 64 9340
41 Dari 6745 2272 9017 122 9141
42 Dutch 8388 194 8582 111 8688
43 Armenian 6969 827 7796 45 7839
44 Afrikaans 7571 119 7690 51 7735
45 Min Nan 5546 1632 7178 40 7213
46 Chinese, nfd 4554 2512 7066 55 7114
47 Hungarian 5881 596 6477 52 6533
48 Marathi 5615 321 5936 31 5967
49 Lao 3819 1535 5354 51 5405
50 Burmese 3817 1039 4856 37 4902
51 Hazaraghi 2989 1790 4779 64 4834
52 Fijian 4315 152 4467 68 4532
53 Bosnian 3192 654 3846 40 3889
54 Kannada 3468 179 3647 17 3663
55 Hebrew 3316 121 3437 32 3468
56 Czech 3182 187 3369 29 3395
57 Swedish 3184 105 3289 25 3316
58 Inadequately described 2261 624 2885 367 3247
59 Malay 2682 141 2823 19 2838
60 Southern Asian Languages, nfd 2507 205 2712 40 2750
61 Auslan 1971 661 2632 63 2693
62 Kurdish 2082 534 2616 39 2653
63 Pashto 2047 549 2596 57 2650
64 Shona 2511 52 2563 22 2580
65 Romanian 2198 235 2433 21 2450
66 Maori (New Zealand) 2322 59 2381 51 2432
67 Slovak 2104 124 2228 15 2239
68 Ukrainian 1965 224 2189 21 2208
69 Wu 1471 674 2145 3 2147
70 Dinka 1642 335 1977 32 2012
71 Serbo-Croatian/Yugoslavian, so described 1520 265 1785 41 1828
72 Swahili 1611 140 1751 23 1770
73 Akan 1632 81 1713 31 1743
74 Danish 1682 39 1721 5 1731
75 Hakka 1279 395 1674 9 1675
76 Maori (Cook Island) 1477 93 1570 47 1612
77 Finnish 1436 138 1574 15 1588
78 Mongolian 901 597 1498 8 1507
79 Fijian Hindustani 1386 63 1449 13 1458
80 Krio 1179 95 1274 40 1314
81 Slovene 1165 89 1254 15 1271
82 Somali 1066 164 1230 17 1245
83 Bisaya 976 41 1017 8 1028
84 Rohingya 421 532 953 15 968
85 Norwegian 929 27 956 5 960
86 Latvian 835 29 864 10 871
87 Tibetan 566 280 846 7 859
88 Bulgarian 787 55 842 5 844
89 African Languages, nec 755 65 820 20 841
90 Konkani 786 37 823 4 829
91 Karen 456 370 826 3 825
92 Amharic 693 64 757 20 773
93 Albanian 667 98 765 10 772
94 Mauritian Creole 719 42 761 10 760
95 Cebuano 729 25 754 7 754
96 Lithuanian 686 33 719 5 717
97 Igbo 688 15 703 14 715
98 Tok Pisin (Neomelanesian) 594 32 626 8 642
99 Yoruba 616 10 626 3 631
100 Estonian 573 26 599 3 609
101 Indo-Aryan, nfd 555 40 595 12 609
102 Australian Indigenous Languages, nfd 528 30 558 59 609
103 African Languages, nfd 527 59 586 13 600
104 Irish 574 6 580 6 587
105 Tokelauan 392 52 444 12 458
106 Sindhi 425 41 466 4 457
107 Welsh 421 11 432 5 434
108 Sign Languages, nfd 210 165 375 19 387
109 Tigrinya 304 68 372 3 382
110 Wiradjuri 344 7 351 11 374
111 French Creole, nfd 360 10 370 0 368
112 Ndebele 352 0 352 0 355
113 Indo-Aryan, nec 293 42 335 0 334
114 Gaelic (Scotland) 303 0 303 6 321
115 Niue 302 7 309 4 318
116 Oriya 288 26 314 4 309
117 Burmese and Related Languages, nec 189 114 303 12 306
118 Other Southern Asian Languages 287 17 304 0 302
119 Tetum 246 50 296 4 301
120 Iranic, nfd 226 67 293 8 295
121 Uygur 207 84 291 0 288
122 Kirundi (Rundi) 185 51 236 4 248
123 Fulfulde 203 32 235 6 242
124 IIokano 212 15 227 0 220
125 Ilonggo (Hiligaynon) 219 0 219 0 219
126 Rotuman 203 6 209 0 206
127 Tulu 185 3 188 0 197
128 Azeri 166 22 188 3 187
129 Madi 155 30 185 0 184
130 Zulu 164 0 164 3 172
131 Aboriginal English, so described 165 3 168 6 168
132 Swiss, so described 165 0 165 0 168
133 Chin Haka 82 80 162 0 165
134 Other Australian Indigenous Languages, nec 153 4 157 3 163
135 Catalan 153 8 161 0 159
136 Hmong 97 54 151 0 153
137 Ewe 127 26 153 4 152
138 Turkmen 129 22 151 0 150
139 Kinyarwanda (Rwanda) 120 25 145 0 147
140 Luganda 136 0 136 0 144
141 Assamese 135 4 139 0 138
142 Yiddish 122 3 125 4 136
143 Creole, nfd 124 4 128 0 129
144 Norf'k-Pitcairn 125 0 125 0 127
145 Timorese 92 38 130 6 125
146 Mandinka 101 14 115 4 118
147 Oromo 97 21 118 0 116
148 Pampangan 96 3 99 0 106
149 Georgian 76 18 94 0 103
150 Latin 87 19 106 0 100
151 Tswana 92 0 92 0 95
152 Southeast Asian Austronesian Languages, nec 87 4 91 0 88
153 Bandjalang 85 0 85 6 88
154 Cypriot, so described 77 13 90 0 87
155 Gumbaynggir 84 0 84 0 87
156 Mandaean (Mandaic) 74 13 87 4 85
157 Yumplatok (Torres Strait Creole) 71 3 74 4 82
158 Bislama 76 0 76 0 81
159 Kashmiri 76 0 76 0 79
160 Ga 78 3 81 0 77
161 Bari 71 4 75 0 74
162 Czechoslovakian, so described 70 10 80 0 73
163 Southeast Asian Austronesian Languages, nfd 68 0 68 0 72
164 Icelandic 63 4 67 0 72
165 Pidgin, nfd 68 8 76 0 71
166 Acholi 67 3 70 0 71
167 Gamilaraay 66 3 69 0 70
168 Balinese 56 9 65 0 70
169 Uzbek 58 11 69 0 69
170 Pacific Austronesian Languages, nec 57 10 67 0 69
171 Hausa 55 9 64 0 68
172 Solomon Islands Pijin 66 0 66 0 67
173 Dan (Gio-Dan) 55 4 59 0 64
174 Gilbertese 57 0 57 3 63
175 Burmese and Related Languages, nfd 30 27 57 3 62
176 Zomi 16 41 57 0 60
177 Bemba 58 0 58 0 59
178 Dhivehi 53 4 57 0 59
179 Balochi 50 3 53 0 57
180 Moro (Nuba Moro) 33 12 45 5 57
181 Other Eastern Asian Languages, nec 31 25 56 0 56
182 Key Word Sign Australia 25 23 48 3 55
183 Papua New Guinea Languages, nfd 52 0 52 0 54
184 Motu (HiriMotu) 58 0 58 0 52
185 Liberian (Liberian English) 45 5 50 4 52
186 Themne 44 5 49 0 52
187 Seychelles Creole 45 0 45 3 52
188 Acehnese 28 20 48 0 51
189 Xhosa 39 0 39 6 46
190 Dravidian, nec 41 0 41 0 45
191 Belorussian 36 6 42 0 43
192 Nyanja (Chichewa) 35 0 35 0 41
193 Eastern European Languages, nfd 33 0 33 0 39
194 American Languages 37 6 43 0 38
195 Mon-Khmer, nec 34 7 41 0 35
196 Invented Languages 36 0 36 0 34
197 Anuak 30 5 35 0 33
198 Romany 19 6 25 0 32
199 Dhanggatti 24 6 30 0 31
200 Papua New Guinea Languages, nec 30 0 30 0 30
201 Luo 26 0 26 0 29
202 Dharawal 22 0 22 3 29
203 Bikol 25 0 25 0 28
204 Other Australian Indigenous Languages, nfd 23 3 26 0 27
205 Yolngu Matha, nfd 25 0 25 3 27
206 Kikuyu 23 0 23 0 27
207 Mon 18 12 30 0 26
208 Middle Eastern Semitic Languages, nec 24 4 28 0 26
209 Tuvaluan 23 0 23 0 26
210 Nuer 17 0 17 0 26
211 Paakantyi 26 3 29 0 24
212 Lingala 26 4 30 0 22
213 Other Southeast Asian Languages 22 0 22 0 22
214 Pacific Austronesian Languages, nfd 19 0 19 3 22
215 Turkic, nec 19 5 24 0 21
216 Javanese 12 3 15 0 21
217 Other Southern European Languages, nec 12 6 18 0 19
218 Bassa 15 0 15 0 19
219 Harari 13 0 13 0 19
220 Sign Languages, nec 9 7 16 0 17
221 Eastern Asian Languages, nfd 12 3 15 0 16
222 Chinese, nec 12 3 15 0 15
223 Nyungar 11 0 11 0 15
224 Shilluk 18 0 18 0 14
225 Iberian Romance, nfd 13 0 13 0 14
226 Iranic, nec 10 3 13 0 14
227 Mann 8 0 8 0 14
228 Yankunytjatjara 11 0 11 0 13
229 Letzeburgish 9 0 9 0 13
230 Basque 17 0 17 0 12
231 Frisian 8 0 8 0 12
232 Celtic, nec 15 0 15 0 11
233 Tai, nec 10 0 10 0 11
234 Nauruan 13 4 17 0 10
235 Iberian Romance, nec 13 0 13 0 10
236 Other Eastern Asian Languages, nfd 13 0 13 0 10
237 Middle Eastern Semitic Languages, nfd 5 0 5 0 10
238 Ngarrindjeri 9 0 9 0 9
239 German and Related Languages, nfd 5 0 5 0 9
240 Iban 4 0 4 0 9
241 Finnish and Related Languages, nfd 10 0 10 0 8
242 Kalaw Kawaw Ya/Kalaw Lagaw Ya 10 0 10 0 8
243 Warlpiri 7 0 7 0 8
244 Kpelle 6 0 6 0 8
245 Southwest and Central Asian Languages, nfd 11 0 11 0 7
246 Arrernte, nec 7 0 7 0 7
247 Gurindji 6 0 6 0 7
248 Scandinavian, nec 5 0 5 0 7
249 Kuuku-Ya'u 6 0 6 3 6
250 Pitjantjatjara 6 0 6 0 6
251 Torres Strait Island Languages, nfd 3 0 3 0 6
252 Krahn 0 0 0 0 6
253 Oceanian Pidgins and Creoles, nec 0 0 0 0 6
254 Tai, nfd 7 0 7 0 5
255 Finnish and Related Languages, nec 5 0 5 0 5
256 Southern European Languages, nfd 5 0 5 0 5
257 Tiwi 5 0 5 0 5
258 Oceanian Pidgins and Creoles, nfd 5 0 5 0 5
259 Muruwari 4 0 4 0 5
260 Other Southwest and Central Asian Languages, nec 3 0 3 0 5
261 Murrinh Patha 4 0 4 0 4
262 Guugu Yimidhirr 4 0 4 0 4
263 Meriam Mir 4 0 4 0 4
264 Arrernte, nfd 4 0 4 0 4
265 Portuguese Creole, nfd 4 0 4 0 4
266 Baltic, nfd 0 0 0 0 4
267 Githabul 7 0 7 0 3
268 Yorta Yorta 4 0 4 0 3
269 Celtic, nfd 3 0 3 0 3
270 South Slavic, nfd 3 0 3 0 3
271 Other Eastern European Languages, nec 3 0 3 0 3
272 Southeast Asian Languages, nfd 3 0 3 0 3
273 Anindilyakwa 3 0 3 0 3
274 Kriol 3 0 3 0 3
275 Aromunian (Macedo-Romanian) 0 0 0 0 3
276 Tatar 0 0 0 0 3
277 Luritja 0 0 0 0 3
Total 1549025 336268 1885293 5594786 7480194
Note: does not include English and Not Stated. Low Proficiency include “Not Well” or “Not at All”, High Proficiency include “Well” or “Very Well” in relation to English language proficiency.
Top local government areas (LGAs) ranked by the percentage of residents who speak a language other than English (LOTE) at home in NSW.
Rank LGA Total LOTE % LOTE
1 Fairfield (C) 198816 140724 71
2 Cumberland (A) 216077 141811 66
3 Strathfield (A) 40313 25870 64
4 Burwood (A) 36810 23421 63
5 Canterbury-Bankstown (A) 346300 208323 60
6 Rockdale (C) 109402 61542 56
7 Georges River (A) 146834 78617 54
8 Parramatta (C) 226153 117616 52
9 Liverpool (C) 204330 106094 52
10 Ryde (C) 116304 55901 48
11 Botany Bay (C) 46651 20789 45
12 Blacktown (C) 336965 138300 41
13 Canada Bay (A) 88015 35968 41
14 Willoughby (C) 74303 29896 40
15 Sydney (C) 208376 75386 36
16 Randwick (C) 140659 45112 32
17 The Hills Shire (A) 157243 50112 32
18 Hornsby (A) 142666 44379 31
19 Campbelltown (C) (NSW) 157007 47716 30
20 Inner West (A) 182037 51715 28
21 Ku-ring-gai (A) 118053 32746 28
22 Lane Cove (A) 36050 9514 26
23 North Sydney (A) 67655 15053 22
24 Waverley (A) 66813 14016 21
25 Griffith (C) 25635 5347 21
26 Hunters Hill (A) 13999 2722 19
27 Penrith (C) 196064 33077 17
28 Wollongong (C) 203630 34297 17
29 Woollahra (A) 54239 8376 15
30 Northern Beaches (A) 252876 38209 15
31 Mosman (A) 28476 4302 15
32 Camden (A) 78220 11272 14
33 Sutherland Shire (A) 218465 28411 13
34 Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional (A) 56027 6787 12
35 Shellharbour (C) 68460 7112 10
36 Newcastle (C) 155412 15381 10
37 Armidale Regional (A) 29451 2333 8
38 Coffs Harbour (C) 72949 5460 7
39 Leeton (A) 11167 816 7
40 Albury (C) 51080 3451 6
41 Byron (A) 31556 2126 7
42 Balranald (A) 2290 154 7
43 Wagga Wagga (C) 62383 4128 7
44 Blue Mountains (C) 76902 4708 6
45 Carrathool (A) 2723 164 6
46 Orange (C) 40348 2411 6
47 Hawkesbury (C) 64591 3851 6
48 Central Coast (C) (NSW) 327736 19213 6
49 Wollondilly (A) 48520 2766 6
50 Wingecarribee (A) 47878 2701 6
51 Walgett (A) 6112 326 5
52 Snowy Monaro Regional (A) 20216 1069 5
53 Goulburn Mulwaree (A) 29608 1401 5
54 Western Plains Regional (A) 50075 2348 5
55 Lismore (C) 43134 1989 5
56 Lake Macquarie (C) 197373 8749 4
57 Kiama (A) 21466 931 4
58 Tweed (A) 91374 3851 4
59 Bathurst Regional (A) 41301 1694 4
60 Cobar (A) 4650 189 4
61 Shoalhaven (C) 99649 4013 4
62 Maitland (C) 77307 3067 4
63 Hay (A) 2945 112 4
64 Ballina (A) 41786 1582 4
65 Eurobodalla (A) 37229 1400 4
66 Tamworth Regional (A) 59662 2239 4
67 Yass Valley (A) 16143 572 4
68 Moree Plains (A) 13158 466 4
69 Brewarrina (A) 1645 58 4
70 Snowy Valleys (A) 14398 503 3
71 Lithgow (C) 21090 733 3
72 Muswellbrook (A) 16086 559 3
73 Hilltops (A) 18497 634 3
74 Port Stephens (A) 69556 2371 3
75 Oberon (A) 5301 180 3
76 Murrumbidgee (A) 3838 127 3
77 Edward River (A) 8847 289 3
78 Bellingen (A) 12670 403 3
79 Inverell (A) 16485 521 3
80 Singleton (A) 22990 716 3
81 Berrigan (A) 8462 262 3
82 Port Macquarie-Hastings (A) 78541 2400 3
83 Junee (A) 6295 192 3
84 Bega Valley (A) 33254 1010 3
85 Upper Hunter Shire (A) 14112 420 3
86 Wentworth (A) 6798 200 3
87 Parkes (A) 14611 415 3
88 Bourke (A) 2633 72 3
89 Kyogle (A) 8939 244 3
90 Mid-Western Regional (A) 24079 652 3
91 Cowra (A) 12464 331 3
92 Central Darling (A) 1831 48 3
93 Mid-Coast (A) 90302 2362 3
94 Broken Hill (C) 17709 446 3
95 Murray River (A) 11682 292 3
96 Narrandera (A) 5853 144 3
97 Tenterfield (A) 6624 159 2
98 Nambucca (A) 19210 456 2
99 Bland (A) 5958 138 2
100 Kempsey (A) 28886 647 2
101 Gunnedah (A) 12214 273 2
102 Bogan (A) 2689 60 2
103 Temora (A) 6110 134 2
104 Lachlan (A) 6195 133 2
105 Clarence Valley (A) 50670 1082 2
106 Cabonne (A) 13391 281 2
107 Forbes (A) 9589 201 2
108 Glen Innes Severn (A) 8832 184 2
109 Warren (A) 2730 56 2
110 Gundagai (A) 11144 227 22
111 Warrumbungle Shire (A) 9380 191 2
112 Greater Hume Shire (A) 10357 209 2
113 Gilgandra (A) 4234 84 2
114 Federation (A) 12279 239 2
115 Cessnock (C) 55561 1056 2
116 Narrabri (A) 13083 227 2
117 Richmond Valley (A) 22805 391 2
118 Uralla (A) 6049 98 2
119 Blayney (A) 7259 117 2
120 Upper Lachlan Shire (A) 7694 121 2
121 Lockhart (A) 3121 43 1
122 Weddin (A) 3660 50 1
123 Coonamble (A) 3919 49 1
124 Walcha (A) 3090 38 1
125 Narromine (A) 6444 77 1
126 Coolamon (A) 4313 51 1
127 Gwydir (A) 5255 60 1
128 Liverpool Plains (A) 7689 84 1
129 Dungog (A) 8976 76 0
Total 7480230 1882018 25
Note: Unincorporated NSW, No usual address (NSW) and Migratory – Offshore – Shipping (NSW).
NSW is home to over 216,000 people who identify as an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander more than any other Australian state or territory. This is an increase of 25% since the 2011 Census. Seven in 10 of the community (68%) live outside greater Sydney.
0-4 5-14 15-24 25-44 45-64 65+ Total
Males 13006 25339 21109 24496 18041 5379 107368
Females 11958 23971 20217 26141 20323 6200 108809
Total 24956 49315 41327 50653 38354 11576 216176
As always, get in touch if you have any questions on how to reach multicultural audiences.
Please read other IDENTITY posts for data from the 2016 Census on:
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Credit: Image courtesy of SBS.