34.7% ▲ +16.1%
Higher than 98% of urban area areas.
- 2011: 29.9%
- 2016: 19.9%
- 2021: 34.7%
Share of people who use a language other than English at home.
Melbourne · Urban Area
Language in Melbourne
The languages spoken in homes across the area, beyond English.
Nearly 35% of people in Melbourne use a language other than English at home, making it a far more multilingual area than the rest of the country. This diversity has grown steadily over the last decade and shapes the daily interactions of the local community.
Languages at home
English and the largest community languages.
English is spoken by 60.5% of residents, but the area has a strong mix of Mandarin, Vietnamese, Greek and Punjabi speakers. This is reflected in the 5.6% of people who speak little or no English, a figure that has doubled since 2016.
5.6% ▲ +101.9%
Higher than 97% of urban area areas.
- 2016: 2.8%
- 2021: 5.6%
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/sua/2011/melbourne/topic/language