36.0% ▼ -0.7%
Higher than 81% of federal electorate areas.
- 2011: 36.3%
- 2016: 37.5%
- 2021: 36.0%
Share of people who use a language other than English at home.
Melbourne · Federal Electorate
Language in Melbourne
The languages spoken in homes across the area, beyond English.
More than a third of people in Melbourne speak a language other than English at home. This linguistic diversity is far above the national figure and has remained steady since 2011, making the city a major hub for different cultures.
Languages at home
English and the largest community languages.
Around 36% of residents use another language at home, which is much higher than most areas and well above the Victorian average. While 5% of people speak little or no English—a figure a little above the national average—this has fallen from 6.6% in 2016. The most common languages after English are Mandarin (9.8%), Vietnamese (2.8%), and Cantonese (2.5%).
5.0% ▼ -24.3%
Higher than 80% of federal electorate areas.
- 2016: 6.6%
- 2021: 5.0%
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).
More for Melbourne
Cite this page
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2021). Language in Melbourne [Census of Population and Housing]. CensusAtlas, used under CC BY 4.0. https://censusatlas.au/region/ced/CED233/melbourne/topic/language