We are Inner West

24 per cent.

Nearly 24 in every 100 Inner West residents speak a language other than English at home. It is one of the shares that shapes New South Wales.

Our population
177,309
Speak another language
42,139
Languages at home
136
Growth since last census
−9.6%

One in 4 of us speaks a language other than English at home: 42k people, most often Mandarin, Greek and Italian. That is not a fringe of the community. It is a standing share of every audience anyone here is trying to reach.

In New South Wales

#22

of 128 New South Wales councils for the share of residents speaking a language other than English at home. #87 of 540 nationally.

What makes our community ours

Mandarin

5,554 speakers

Mandarin is spoken by 5,554 of our residents at home, 3.1% of Inner West.

Greek

4,721 speakers

Greek is spoken by 4,721 of our residents at home, 2.7% of Inner West.

Italian

3,715 speakers

Italian is spoken by 3,715 of our residents at home, 2.1% of Inner West.

The languages of Inner West

136 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 Inner West, covering 35,659 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
    Mandarin
    5,554-9.2%
  2. 02
    Greek
    4,721-9.0%
  3. 03
    Italian
    3,715-21.1%
  4. 04
    Vietnamese
    3,529-3.0%
  5. 05
    Cantonese
    3,141-3.4%
  6. 06
    Spanish
    2,691+1.2%
  7. 07
    Arabic
    1,958-11.7%
  8. 08
    Portuguese
    1,889-4.3%
  9. 09
    Nepali
    1,829-21.7%
  10. 10
    Thai
    1,163-19.1%

Fastest-growing among us

Tamil

+24.5% 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. 42k 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.

Tamil grew 24.5% since the last census, to 264 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

30.5% of us were born overseas, across 138 countries.

  1. 01
    England
    8,454+3.7%
  2. 02
    China (excludes SARs and Taiwan)
    5,125-13.5%
  3. 03
    New Zealand
    3,895-6.2%
  4. 04
    Vietnam
    3,052-1.8%
  5. 05
    Italy
    2,510-13.9%
  6. 06
    Greece
    2,274-11.8%
  7. 07
    Philippines
    1,927-0.8%
  8. 08
    Nepal
    1,861-17.0%
  9. 09
    India
    1,802-17.7%
  10. 10
    United States of America
    1,793+23.3%

What we believe

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

  1. 01
    No religion or secular beliefs
    92,924+23.4%
  2. 02
    Christianity
    62,904-10.6%
  3. 03
    Buddhism
    5,884-7.6%
  4. 04
    Hinduism
    3,609-15.6%
  5. 05
    Islam
    2,4420%
  6. 06
    Judaism
    868+31.1%

Our suburbs

Our linguistic character changes street by street. Click through to any of our 20 suburbs for its own portrait: the languages spoken there, the communities calling it home.

Where we are

Inner West 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

Inner West
23.8%
New South Wales
25.7%
Australia
21.3%

23.8% of Inner West 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. 23.8% is 42,139 residents as a share of all 177,309 of us. A further 8,125 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 28.3%, which is a larger number and a weaker claim. Measured only across the residents who answered, the share is 24.9%. If you have seen a higher figure quoted for Inner West, 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 Inner West 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 Inner West.