Key Statistics From The 2016 Australian Census
Key multicultural stats from the 2016 Census June 27 release.
The Census is the most comprehensive research into diverse communities in Australia. IDENTITY, the intelligent multicultural marketing agency, has summarised key multicultural stats from the June release of the 2016 Census below, including:
- Top languages spoken in Australia, other than English.
- Top 35 languages ranked by low English proficiency.
- Top 50 countries of birth in Australia.
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Status by Age and Gender.
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Top languages spoken in Australia (other than English).
4.9m people speak a language other than English in Australia according to the 2016 Census. That’s an increase of 1m since the last Census in 2011. Mandarin is now our most spoken language other than English, by a long way – almost double the next language group, Arabic.
All languages recorded in the Census ranked by total Australian population. To sort by a State or Territory, click on the arrow pointers at the top of the corresponding column. For example, to find the top languages spoken in NSW, click on the arrow pointer to the right of the NSW column. For top languages spoken in Victoria, click on the pointer on the right of VIC.
Rank | Language | NSW | VIC | QLD | SA | WA | TAS | NT | ACT | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Mandarin | 239945 | 191793 | 69474 | 28780 | 47840 | 3971 | 2163 | 12408 | 596711 |
2 | Arabic | 200825 | 79589 | 13644 | 9292 | 14132 | 829 | 361 | 3040 | 321728 |
3 | Cantonese | 143333 | 78079 | 24900 | 9666 | 19339 | 972 | 729 | 3853 | 280943 |
4 | Vietnamese | 102896 | 103430 | 25914 | 19017 | 20247 | 442 | 1215 | 4216 | 277400 |
5 | Italian | 75694 | 112272 | 20009 | 29106 | 29401 | 1096 | 765 | 3245 | 271597 |
6 | Greek | 81683 | 110707 | 10538 | 22993 | 4790 | 1191 | 3245 | 2436 | 237588 |
7 | Tagalog/Filipino | 69344 | 40831 | 28370 | 9347 | 25585 | 938 | 5039 | 2995 | 182493 |
8 | Hindi | 67034 | 51241 | 18163 | 7310 | 10747 | 639 | 852 | 3646 | 159652 |
9 | Spanish | 63527 | 35494 | 21006 | 5669 | 10415 | 936 | 487 | 3273 | 140817 |
10 | Punjabi | 33435 | 56171 | 17991 | 9306 | 12223 | 489 | 670 | 2215 | 132496 |
Total | 1,882,002 | 1,538,746 | 557,678 | 274,067 | 435,239 | 27,266 | 67,461 | 86,659 | 4,871,626 |
Note, English not included, Other Territories not included.
Top 35 Languages Spoken at Home ranked by Low English Proficiency.
To sort by other variables, please click on the arrow pointers at the top of the desired variable column.
Rank | Language | Well | Not Well | Total | Not Stated | Grand Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Mandarin | 437918 | 155418 | 593338 | 3372 | 596711 |
2 | Vietnamese | 188801 | 86706 | 275506 | 1896 | 277400 |
3 | Cantonese | 209203 | 70162 | 279361 | 1583 | 280943 |
4 | Arabic | 266667 | 51868 | 318537 | 3186 | 321728 |
5 | Greek | 197651 | 37619 | 235267 | 2321 | 237588 |
6 | Italian | 232917 | 34993 | 267910 | 3690 | 271597 |
7 | Korean | 73365 | 34748 | 108108 | 886 | 108997 |
8 | Spanish | 123821 | 15590 | 139411 | 1402 | 140817 |
9 | Punjabi | 117346 | 13832 | 131173 | 1315 | 132496 |
10 | Other Chinese Langs | 36340 | 13662 | 49999 | 285 | 50284 |
Total | 4,009,194 | 810,002 | 4,819,194 | 52,448 | 4,871,647 |
Note: top 35 language groups shown. Total all non-English includes all languages other than English.
Top 50 Countries of Birth by Age.
Note: Total All Countries include all countries of birth (not just the top 50).
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Status by Age and Gender.
0-4 | 5-14 | 15-24 | 25-44 | 45-54 | 55-64 | 65+ | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Males | 37,768 | 75,292 | 63,283 | 78,788 | 31,654 | 21,446 | 13942 | 322173 |
Females | 35,496 | 71,836 | 60,428 | 82,471 | 35,762 | 23,995 | 17012 | 327000 |
Total | 73,265 | 147,133 | 123,718 | 161,256 | 67,415 | 45,438 | 30,952 | 649,177 |
The Australian Bureau of Statistics will be making more data available via Table Builder next week. And even more data will be released in October.
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