We are Armidale

9 per cent.

9 in every 100 Armidale residents speak a language other than English at home. 2,655 people, in 81 languages — small enough to be overlooked, large enough to be a community.

Our population
28,729
Speak another language
2,655
Languages at home
81
Growth since last census
+30.6%

Most of us speak English at home. 2,655 of us do not, across 81 languages, most often Nepali, Kurdish and Mandarin. Small communities are the ones a mainstream service misses first and notices last — which is the whole reason to count them.

In New South Wales

#34

of 128 New South Wales councils for the share of residents speaking a language other than English at home. #172 of 540 nationally.

What makes our community ours

Nepali

267 speakers

Nepali is spoken by 267 of our residents at home, 0.9% of Armidale.

Kurdish

250 speakers

Kurdish is spoken by 250 of our residents at home, 0.9% of Armidale.

Mandarin

183 speakers

Mandarin is spoken by 183 of our residents at home, 0.6% of Armidale.

The languages of Armidale

81 languages carry the conversation at home. Every one of them is spoken here.

Each block below is scaled to the number of people who speak that language at home, and tinted by how fast that community has grown since the last census.

  • Grew 50%+
  • 25%+
  • 10%+
  • Held
  • Slipped
  • Declined 10%+
  • Not comparable
The 18 most spoken languages in Armidale, covering 1,774 speakers. Area is speakers at the 2021 Census; tint is the change since 2016. Every figure is also in the table below.

Every language, in order

Speakers at the 2021 Census, with the change since 2016. Broader ABS categories such as “Chinese, nfd” are counted in our totals but left out of this list, so the percentages can exceed the sum of the languages shown.

  1. 01
    Nepali
    267+71.2%
  2. 02
    Kurdish
    250+3025%
  3. 03
    Mandarin
    183-39.6%
  4. 04
    Arabic
    128-56.8%
  5. 05
    Punjabi
    111+247%
  6. 06
    Bengali
    110+100%
  7. 07
    German
    84-13.4%
  8. 08
    Vietnamese
    81+22.7%
  9. 09
    Spanish
    76+31.0%
  10. 10
    Sinhalese
    74+139%

Fastest-growing among us

Nepali

+71.2% since last census

We share this portrait because a council below the New South Wales average is the one most likely to be planned for as though everybody here reads English. 2,655 of us do not, at home, and a service that reaches everyone except them has not reached everyone. This almanac exists so that the number is on the record before the decision is made.

Nepali grew 71.2% since the last census, to 267 speakers. A community growing at that rate is one whose translation needs are ahead of the last set of figures anyone commissioned.

Who we are, beyond language

Where we were born

12.9% of us were born overseas, across 80 countries.

  1. 01
    England
    556+4.9%
  2. 02
    Iraq
    553+566%
  3. 03
    New Zealand
    288+1.8%
  4. 04
    Nepal
    261+83.8%
  5. 05
    India
    243+57.8%
  6. 06
    Philippines
    150+12.8%
  7. 07
    China (excludes SARs and Taiwan)
    145-49.3%
  8. 08
    United States of America
    119-12.5%
  9. 09
    South Africa
    108+50.0%
  10. 10
    Bangladesh
    101+62.9%

What we believe

Reported affiliation in Armidale at the 2021 Census, with the change since 2016.

  1. 01
    Christianity
    13,530-17.2%
  2. 02
    No religion or secular beliefs
    10,345+29.3%
  3. 03
    Hinduism
    421+44.7%
  4. 04
    Islam
    351-24.5%
  5. 05
    Buddhism
    285-13.4%
  6. 06
    Judaism
    18+125%

Our suburbs

Our linguistic character changes street by street. Click through to any of our 12 suburbs for its own portrait: the languages spoken there, the communities calling it home.

Where we are

Armidale shaded by the share of residents speaking a language other than English at home. Boundaries are ABS ASGS 2021. See every council on one map.

In context

Armidale
9.2%
New South Wales
25.7%
Australia
21.3%

9.2% of Armidale residents speak a language other than English at home, against 25.7% for New South Wales and 21.3% nationally. Drawn from the 2021 Census.

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2021, language used at home by Statistical Area Level 2, aggregated to Local Government Area. Growth compares 2021 against the 2016 Census.

How the headline share is counted. 9.2% is 2,655 residents as a share of all 28,729 of us. A further 2,880 did not state a language at all, and we do not count them as speaking one — counting every non-response as a non-English speaker would put this figure at 19.3%, which is a larger number and a weaker claim. Measured only across the residents who answered, the share is 10.3%. If you have seen a higher figure quoted for Armidale, it is almost certainly one of those two.

Two further caveats we would rather state than bury. Summing suburbs omits residents not allocated to one — no usual address, migratory and unincorporated areas — so national totals sit a little under the ABS published figures; the Armidale figures on this page are unaffected. And ranked language lists exclude ABS residual categories such as “Chinese, nfd”, which are not languages anyone can order a translation in; they remain inside the headline total.

Need this community reached in its own languages? Talk to us about translation in Armidale.