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Demographic Data

 

Australia is a highly diverse nation. People have migrated to Australia from countries across the world.

To find out more about our diverse population, click on the links below:



Demographic Data for Australia

 

According to the 2006 Australian Census, over 5 million Australians were born overseas, this represents almost a quarter (24%) of the total population. 44% of people reported being born overseas or having atleast one parent born overseas.

83% of the Australian population (5 years and over) speak only English at home. 3 million people reported speaking a language other than English at home. Of these, 74% were born overseas, an additional 21% had atleast one parent born overseas.

Top Ten Countries of Birth and Language Spoken at Home

Country of Birth (COB) Language Spoken at Home
   
 Australia  14,072,946                    English  15,581,333
 England  856,940    Italian  316,895
 New Zealand  389,463    Greek  252,266
 China  206,591    Cantonese  244,553
 Italy  199,123    Arabic  243,662
 Viet Nam      159,859    Mandarin  220,660
 India  147,106    Vietnamese  194,584
 Scotland  130,204    Spanish  98,001
 Philippines  120,538    German  75,634
 Greece  109,988    Hindi  70,011
         
Total Population  19,855,288                   Total Population  19,855,288

 

Humanitarian Entrants - Country of Birth
 Arrival Date: Jan 1, 2005 - Jan 1, 2010
         
 Sudan    10078
 Burma    7057
 Afghanistan        6652
 Iran    2411
 Thailand      2394
 Liberia    2295
 Sri Lanka    2002    
 Sierra Leone        1985      
 Democratic Republic of the Congo    1713    
 Burundi    1556      
           
Total Arrivals    65,899                    

  Return to list

 


Demographic Data for the Australian Capital Territory

Country of Birth (COB) Language Spoken at Home
     
 Australia  236,457                    English  262,451
 England      12,990    Mandarin     3,633
 New Zealand  3,916    Italian  3,426
 China  3,542    Vietnamese  3,064
 India  2,733    Cantonese  2,881
 Viet nam  2,373    Greek  2,570
 Germany  2,365    Croatian  2,526
 Scotland  2,296    Spanish  2,489
 Italy  2,203    German  1,807
United States of America  1,985    Arabic  1,391
     
Total Population  324,033                   Total Population  324,034

 

Humanitarian Entrants - Country of Birth
 Arrival Date: Jan 1, 2005 - Jan 1, 2010
         
 Sudan   152
 Iraq   106
 Burma    97
 Thailand    59
 Sri Lanka    48
 Afghanistan    44
 Sierra Leone    38
 Kenya     37
 Iran    19
 Zimbabwe    19
   
 Total Arrivals              735

 

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Demographic Data for New South Wales

 

Country of Birth (COB) Language Spoken at Home
         
Australia  4,521,155                    English  4,846,670
England  218,834   Arabic  164,985
China  114,044   Cantonese 129,605
New Zealand  106,615   Mandarin 100,593
Viet Nam      63,786   Italian 87,298
Philippines  57,723   Greek  86,157
India  57,154   Vietnamese  74,587 
Lebanon  55,777   Spanish  49,558 
Italy  55,177   Hindi  38,146 
Hong Kong  38,345   Korean  36,683 
         
 Total Population  6,549,178    Total Population  6,549,177

 

Humanitarian Entrants - Country of Birth
 Arrival Date: Jan 1, 2005 - Jan 1, 2010
         
 Iraq   7037
 Sudan   2167
 Afghanistan   1558
 China, Peoples Republic   1130
 Sri Lanka   1070
 Sierra Leone   1037
 Iran    962
 Burma    915
 Liberia    455
 Egypt, Arab Rep of    295
   
 Total Arrivals         20794     

 Return to list 


  
Demographic Data for the Northern Territory

 

Country of Birth (COB) Language Spoken at Home
         
 Australia  148,166                    English  127,283
 England      5,079    Djambarrpuyngu   2,729
 New Zealand  3,292    Arrernte  2,710
 Philippines  1,871    Greek  2,483
 United States of America  1,088    Kriol  2,451
 East Timor  1,020    Warlpiri  2,398
 Greece  944    Murrinh Patha  1,281
 Germany  878    Tiwi  1,691
Scotland  786    Alyawarr  1,628
Indonesia  762    Luritja  1,355
         
Total Population  192,897                   Total Population  192,901

 

Humanitarian Entrants - Country of Birth
 Arrival Date: Jan 1, 2005 - Jan 1, 2010
 Sudan       134
 Liberia     90
 Burma     79
 Democratic Republic of the Congo     79
 Somalia     50
 Thailand     50
 Bhutan     32
 Kenya     28
 Tanzania     28
 Uganda     26
 Burundi     19
   
 Total Arrivals         727  

Return to list


Demographic Data for Queensland

 

Country of Birth (COB) Language Spoken at Home
         
Australia  2,935,260                    English  3,371,684
England 161,424    Mandarin  24,447
New Zealand  148,760    Italian  22,032
South Africa  22,710    Cantonese  19,926
Scotland  22,443    Vietnamese  17,144
Germany      20,114    German      14,743
Philippines  18,707    Spanish  11,298
Netherlands   15,261    Greek  10,995
China  15,060    Japanese  10,217
Italy  13,999    Samoan  9,368
         
 Total Population  3,904,533                   Total Population  3,904,534

 

Humanitarian Entrants - Country of Birth
 Arrival Date: Jan 1, 2005 - Jan 1, 2010
         
 Sudan   1524
 Burma     807
 Afghanistan     445
 Burundi     445
 Iraq     370
 Tanzania     357
 Liberia     339
 Democratic Republic of the Congo     336
 Thailand     310
 Iran     254
   
 Total Arrivals  7684   

Return to list


 
Demographic Data for South Australia

 

Country of Birth (COB) Language Spoken at Home
         
Australia  1,120,081               English  1,262,782
England  101,497   Italian  35,817
Italy  22,485   Greek     25,898
Scotland  14,289   Vietnamese 13,764
Germany  11,969   Mandarin 8,954
New Zealand  11,366   German 7,956
Greece  10,781   Cantonese 7,921
Viet nam  10,547   Polish 6,917
China  8,082   Arabic 5,422
Netherlands 7,779   Serbian 4,273 
       
Total Population  1,514,338    Total Population  1,514,336

 
Humanitarian Entrants - Country of Birth
 Arrival Date: Jan 1, 2005 - Jan 1, 2010
         
 Afghanistan   1330
 Sudan     897
 Iran     444
 Liberia     441
 Democratic Republic of the Congo     411
 Burma     402
 Burundi     393
 Kenya     316
 Bhutan     294
 Iraq     279
   
 Total Arrivals         7257     
 

 

Return to list


Demographic Data for Tasmania

 

Country of Birth (COB) Language Spoken at Home
         
Australia 396,655               English 438,165 
England  18,920   German 1,552
New Zealand  4,159   Italian 1,353
Scotland  2,696   Greek 1,221
Netherlands  2,431   Mandarin 1,167
Germany  2,119   Dutch 1,028
United States of America  1,163   Polish 820
South Africa  1,068   Cantonese 792
Italy  1,036   Arabic 681
China  964   Spanish 674 
 Malaysia  960   French  489
         
Total Population  476,480    Total Population  476,480

 

Humanitarian Entrants - Country of Birth
 Arrival Date: Jan 1, 2005 - Jan 1, 2010
         
 Sudan   249
 Bhutan   148
 Burma   127 
 Democratic Republic of the Congo   121
 Sierra Leone   120
 Ethiopia    84
 Burundi    49
 Nepal    46
 Iran    43
 Eritrea    38
   
 Total Arrivals       1381       
  

 

Return to list


 
Demographic Data for Victoria

 

Country of Birth (COB) Language Spoken at Home
         
Australia  3,434,470               English  3,668,283
 England   163,960   Italian  133,328
Italy  82,849   Greek 117,876
New Zealand  63,995   Vietnamese 72,162
Viet nam  58,878   Cantonese 66,854
China  56,559   Mandarin 64,375
Greece  54,325   Arabic 55,927
India 52,853   Macedonian 30,772
Sri Lanka  31,486   Turkish 29,950
Malaysia 30,476   Spanish  24,506
       
Total Population  4,932,422    Total Population  4,932,422

  

Humanitarian Entrants - Country of Birth
 Arrival Date: Jan 1, 2005 - Jan 1, 2010
         
 Sudan    3422
 Burma    3363
 Iraq    3013
 Afghanistan    2488
 Thailand    1175
 Ethiopia      641
 Sri Lanka      591
 Iran      453
 Liberia      436
 Kenya      352
   
 Total Arrivals              19223

Return to list


 
Demographic Data for Western Australia

    

Country of Birth (COB) Language Spoken at Home
         
Australia  1,279,224               English  1,603,039
England  174,187   Italian  32,897
New Zealand  47,333   Mandarin 16,551
Scotland  24,415   Cantonese 16,049
South Africa  22,049   Vietnamese 13,243
Italy  20,934   Arabic 7,697
Malaysia  19,721   German 7,213
India  15,157   Indonesian 6,611
Singapore  11,808   Polish 6,098
Viet Nam 10,489   Croatian 6,089
       
Total Population  1,959,086    Total Population  1,959,086

Humanitarian Entrants - Country of Birth
 Arrival Date: Jan 1, 2005 - Jan 1, 2010
         
 Sudan   1525
 Burma   1245
 Afghanistan     652
 Liberia     465
 Thailand     411
 Iraq     361
 Burundi     288
 Democratic Republic of the Congo     281
 Tanzania     249
 Sierra Leone     207
   
 Total Arrivals             7764 

 

 

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References 

Note: 2006 Census Statistics for Country of Birth and Language Spoken at Home exclude 'Not stated'.

 

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