Sydney · Federal Electorate

Language in Sydney

The languages spoken in homes across the area, beyond English.

A huge 32 percentage point increase since 2011 means Sydney is now far more multilingual than it used to be. Over a third of residents now use a language other than English at home, a figure that sits far above the national average.

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📍 Sydney, Federal Electorate

Languages at home

English and the largest community languages.

About 35.4% of people use a language other than English at home, which is well above the New South Wales figure. While English is only spoken by 57.4%, Mandarin is the most common other language at 8.9%, and 5.3% of people speak little or no English.

35.4% ▲ +876.2%

Higher than 80% of federal electorate areas.

  • 2011: 3.6%
  • 2016: 36.8%
  • 2021: 35.4%

Share of people who use a language other than English at home.

5.3% ▼ -17.8%

Higher than 82% of federal electorate areas.

  • 2016: 6.4%
  • 2021: 5.3%

Share of people who use another language at home and speak English not well or not at all. No 2011 figure — that census only asked proficiency of overseas-born residents.

Sources

  • Census of Population and Housing — Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2021 (CC BY 4.0).

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Cite this page

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2021). Language in Sydney [Census of Population and Housing]. CensusAtlas, used under CC BY 4.0. https://censusatlas.au/region/ced/CED142/sydney/topic/language