14.7% ▲ +25.9%
Higher than 87% of urban centre areas.
- 2011: 11.7%
- 2016: 14.0%
- 2021: 14.7%
Share of people who use a language other than English at home.
Cairns · Urban Centre
Language in Cairns
The languages spoken in homes across the area, beyond English.
More people in Cairns have started speaking a language other than English at home, rising by 3 percentage points since 2011. This means 14.7% of residents now use another language, a figure that is much higher than most similar areas. While this is a little above the Queensland average, it remains well below the national rate.
Languages at home
English and the largest community languages.
English is the only language used in 76.1% of homes, though other common languages include Mandarin, Punjabi, Italian and Tagalog. Despite the increase in non-English speakers, the 1.9% who speak little or no English has barely changed since 2016.
1.9% ▼ -11.6%
Higher than 87% of urban centre areas.
- 2016: 2.2%
- 2021: 1.9%
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 Cairns
Cite this page
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2021). Language in Cairns [Census of Population and Housing]. CensusAtlas, used under CC BY 4.0. https://censusatlas.au/region/ucl/UCL303001/cairns/topic/language