Punjabi
1,815 speakers
Punjabi is spoken by 1,815 of our residents at home, 2.3% of Coffs Harbour.
We are Coffs Harbour
8 per cent.
8 in every 100 Coffs Harbour residents speak a language other than English at home. 6,375 people, in 108 languages — small enough to be overlooked, large enough to be a community.
- Our population
- 77,856
- Speak another language
- 6,375
- Languages at home
- 108
- Growth since last census
- +35.5%
Most of us speak English at home. 6,375 of us do not, across 108 languages, most often Punjabi, 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
#41
of 128 New South Wales councils for the share of residents speaking a language other than English at home. #186 of 540 nationally.
What makes our community ours
Kurdish
375 speakers
Kurdish is spoken by 375 of our residents at home, 0.5% of Coffs Harbour.
Mandarin
358 speakers
Mandarin is spoken by 358 of our residents at home, 0.5% of Coffs Harbour.
The languages of Coffs Harbour
108 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
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.
Fastest-growing among us
Mandarin
+58.4% 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. 6,375 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.
Mandarin grew 58.4% since the last census, to 358 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
13.4% of us were born overseas, across 108 countries.
- 01England2,517+1.2%
- 02India1,341+29.4%
- 03New Zealand1,122+7.9%
- 04Myanmar422+45.5%
- 05Iraq384+12700%
- 06Philippines372+51.2%
- 07South Africa368+35.8%
- 08Germany350+3.9%
- 09Malaysia330+267%
- 10Scotland262+5.2%
What we believe
Reported affiliation in Coffs Harbour at the 2021 Census, with the change since 2016.
- 01Christianity35,140-11.0%
- 02No religion or secular beliefs33,097+44.2%
- 03Buddhism769+8.6%
- 04Islam397-10.4%
- 05Hinduism315+69.4%
- 06Judaism30-3.2%
Our suburbs
Our linguistic character changes street by street. Click through to any of our 28 suburbs for its own portrait: the languages spoken there, the communities calling it home.
- WoolgoolgaTop language — Punjabi22%1,337
- ArrawarraTop language — Tongan15%87
- Coffs HarbourTop language — Kurdish10%2,794
- Sandy BeachTop language — Punjabi10%275
- Arrawarra HeadlandTop language — Punjabi9%56
- BundagenTop language — German9%9
- Safety Beach (NSW)Top language — Punjabi8%84
- North Boambee ValleyTop language — Punjabi8%172
- Corindi BeachTop language — Punjabi7%141
- KororaTop language — Malay7%192
- Upper OraraTop language — German7%59
- Upper CorindiTop language — Punjabi7%17
- Sapphire BeachTop language — Arabic6%161
- Bucca (NSW)Top language — German5%32
- BoambeeTop language — Punjabi5%85
- MullawayTop language — Mandarin5%27
- BonvilleTop language — German4%122
- ToorminaTop language — Punjabi4%233
- Emerald BeachTop language — Spanish4%96
- KarangiTop language — German4%18
- Boambee EastTop language — Punjabi3%174
- Moonee BeachTop language — Punjabi3%64
- Nana GlenTop language — German3%29
- SawtellTop language — Dutch2%88
- BrooklanaTop language — Bisaya2%5
- CorambaTop language — Italian2%14
- Red RockTop language — Japanese1%4
- Lowanna0%0
- 28 suburbs in Coffs Harbour. Percentage is residents speaking a language other than English at home; the figure beneath it is how many people that is.
Where we are
Coffs Harbour 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
- Coffs Harbour
- 8.2%
- New South Wales
- 25.7%
- Australia
- 21.3%
8.2% of Coffs Harbour 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. 8.2% is 6,375 residents as a share of all 77,856 of us. A further 4,727 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 14.3%, which is a larger number and a weaker claim. Measured only across the residents who answered, the share is 8.7%. If you have seen a higher figure quoted for Coffs Harbour, 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 Coffs Harbour 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 Coffs Harbour.