Nepali
759 speakers
Nepali is spoken by 759 of our residents at home, 1.4% of Dubbo.
We are Dubbo
7 in every 100 Dubbo residents speak a language other than English at home. 3,663 people, in 70 languages — small enough to be overlooked, large enough to be a community.
Most of us speak English at home. 3,663 of us do not, across 70 languages, most often Nepali, Punjabi and Malayalam. 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
#44
of 128 New South Wales councils for the share of residents speaking a language other than English at home. #207 of 540 nationally.
What makes our community ours
759 speakers
Nepali is spoken by 759 of our residents at home, 1.4% of Dubbo.
363 speakers
Punjabi is spoken by 363 of our residents at home, 0.7% of Dubbo.
209 speakers
Malayalam is spoken by 209 of our residents at home, 0.4% of Dubbo.
The languages of Dubbo
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.
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
Nepali
+256.3% 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. 3,663 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 256.3% since the last census, to 759 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
8.1% of us were born overseas, across 78 countries.
Reported affiliation in Dubbo at the 2021 Census, with the change since 2016.
Our suburbs
Our linguistic character changes street by street. Click through to any of our 19 suburbs for its own portrait: the languages spoken there, the communities calling it home.
Where we are
Dubbo 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
6.8% of Dubbo 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. 6.8% is 3,663 residents as a share of all 54,092 of us. A further 5,541 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 17.0%, which is a larger number and a weaker claim. Measured only across the residents who answered, the share is 7.5%. If you have seen a higher figure quoted for Dubbo, 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 Dubbo 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 Dubbo.