Spanish
4,302 speakers
Between the last two censuses it has grown by about three quarters.
19th of 542 local government areas for language diversity
Languages spoken in Melbourne
The 2021 Census found about 27,000 people in Melbourne speaking Chinese at home, more than any other language after English. It has more speakers than the next four languages put together. That puts Melbourne 19th in the country for language diversity.
- Residents
- 150,146
- Speak another language
- 67,538
- Languages at home
- 129
- Change since 2016
- +3.7%
How big is the Chinese-speaking community in Melbourne?
Chinese at home
18%
Counted together, Chinese speakers make up about 27,000 people. Among everyone who speaks another language at home, it accounts for just over two in five speakers. Most speak Mandarin; Cantonese is the second variety. Against the previous census, Chinese has shrunk since 2016.
Is Melbourne more multilingual than Victoria?
Victoria comes in under Melbourne's share. Only six councils in Victoria rank higher.
- Melbourne
- 45.0%
- Victoria
- 26.6%
- Australia
- 21.3%
Shares are calculated the same way for each area, so the bars compare directly.
Which suburbs of Melbourne have the largest Chinese-speaking share?
No suburb has a larger Chinese-speaking share than Melbourne.
Each suburb links to its own page, with the languages spoken there.
- MelbourneLed by Mandarin25%13,204
- Carlton (Vic.)Led by Mandarin20%3,134
- DocklandsLed by Mandarin19%2,830
- West MelbourneLed by Mandarin17%1,377
- SouthbankLed by Mandarin15%3,365
- North MelbourneLed by Mandarin14%2,022
- Parkville (Vic.)Led by Mandarin9%651
- South WharfLed by Pashto9%6
- Kensington (Vic.)Led by Mandarin7%731
- East MelbourneLed by Mandarin4%167
- The percentage is Chinese speakers in each of Melbourne's 10 suburbs; the smaller figure is the number of people.
What else is spoken in Melbourne?
These three come next, in order of speakers.
Hindi
3,652 speakers
The community has grown by more than half since 2016.
Vietnamese
3,141 speakers
Its speaker count has grown by more than half since 2016.
How does the rest of Melbourne's language list look?
Speakers at home, with the change since 2016. Broad ABS categories such as "Chinese, nfd" count towards the totals but aren't listed, so the shares can add up to more than the languages shown.
- 0121,922-15.7%
- 025,247-4.5%
- 034,302+80.8%
- 043,652+52.7%
- 053,141+50.6%
- 062,738-9.2%
- 072,378-17.7%
- 081,891+23.1%
- 091,738-1.4%
- 101,532-14.8%
How do Melbourne's languages compare in size?
- Grew 50%+
- 25%+
- 10%+
- Held
- Slipped
- Declined 10%+
- Not comparable
- Grew 50%+
- 25%+
- 10%+
- Held
- Slipped
- Declined 10%+
- Not comparable
What do birthplace and religion add to the picture in Melbourne?
China is the most common birthplace after Australia.
Country of birth
53.3% born overseas, across 140 countries.
- 01China (excludes SARs and Taiwan)17,250-21.7%
- 02India10,309+64.2%
- 03Malaysia6,253-7.9%
- 04England3,629+12.0%
- 05Indonesia3,311-1.1%
- 06New Zealand3,259+11.5%
- 07Vietnam2,916+52.2%
- 08Colombia2,602+134%
- 09Korea, Republic of (South)2,415-23.3%
- 10Philippines2,324+109%
Religious affiliation
Reported affiliation, with the change since 2016.
- 01No religion or secular beliefs75,378+21.6%
- 02Christianity36,982+8.3%
- 03Buddhism9,5930%
- 04Hinduism9,390+64.3%
- 05Islam5,990+11.1%
- 06Judaism579+10.1%
How does Melbourne look on the map?
Melbourne shaded by the share of residents speaking a multicultural languageany language other than English at home. Boundaries are ABS ASGS 2021. See every council on one map.
ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021: language used at home, by Statistical Area Level 2, rolled up to Local Government Area. Change is measured from 2016.
A note on method: 11,720 residents didn't state a language, and this page doesn't count them as speaking one. That's why 45.0% sits below the 52.8% you'd get by counting every blank, and below 48.8% measured across respondents only.
Two caveats: summing suburbs leaves out residents with no usual address, so national totals land a little under ABS published figures, and ranked lists leave out broad ABS categories that don't name a language.
Reuse these figures under CC BY 4.0 with credit to LEXIGO Language Map.
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