Between the 2016 and 2021 ABS census we have seen a very large increase in multicultural immigration in Australia. This has led to over 1.1m people in Victoria (NSW) speaking a top 10 language other than English. The largest increases have come from Indian language speakers.
The most frequently spoken languages are Chinese languages, Indian languages and Vietnamese.
Source: ABS Census 2021
| RANK | LANGUAGE | 2021 | % CHANGE FROM 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chinese Languages | 319,993 | 16% |
| 2 | Indian | 196,060 | 37% |
| 3 | Vietnamese | 118,801 | 13% |
| 4 | Greek | 107,158 | -3% |
| 5 | Italian | 92,320 | -22% |
| 6 | Arabic | 91,441 | 13% |
| 7 | Tagalog (inc Filipino) | 52,655 | 22% |
| 8 | Sinhalese | 49,501 | 24% |
| 9 | Spanish | 43,181 | 18% |
| 10 | Urdu | 38,084 | 39% |
Top 10 languages spoken in Victoria