We are Merri-bek

34 per cent.

Nearly 34 in every 100 Merri-bek residents speak a language other than English at home. It is among the highest shares of any council in Victoria.

Our population
167,647
Speak another language
56,418
Languages at home
128
Growth since last census
−4.6%

One in 3 of us speaks a language other than English at home: 56k people, most often Italian, Arabic and Greek. That is not a fringe of the community. It is a standing share of every audience anyone here is trying to reach.

In Victoria

#13

of 79 Victoria councils for the share of residents speaking a language other than English at home. #62 of 540 nationally.

What makes our community ours

Italian

10,012 speakers

Italian is spoken by 10,012 of our residents at home, 6.0% of Merri-bek.

Arabic

7,726 speakers

Arabic is spoken by 7,726 of our residents at home, 4.6% of Merri-bek.

Greek

6,734 speakers

Greek is spoken by 6,734 of our residents at home, 4.0% of Merri-bek.

The languages of Merri-bek

128 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 Merri-bek, covering 47,552 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
    Italian
    10,012-21.3%
  2. 02
    Arabic
    7,726-1.9%
  3. 03
    Greek
    6,734-8.3%
  4. 04
    Urdu
    3,814+0.5%
  5. 05
    Nepali
    3,720+48.1%
  6. 06
    Turkish
    3,086+5.0%
  7. 07
    Mandarin
    2,836-8.9%
  8. 08
    Spanish
    1,937+25.7%
  9. 09
    Vietnamese
    1,534+6.8%
  10. 10
    Hindi
    1,040-17.4%

Fastest-growing among us

Portuguese

+74.4% since last census

We share this portrait because Merri-bek is, genuinely, not an “average” council. Services designed for the median Victoria resident arrive here in the wrong language. This almanac exists so that nobody writing policy about us — federal, state, corporate or media — can say they did not know.

Portuguese grew 74.4% since the last census, to 457 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

30.6% of us were born overseas, across 140 countries.

  1. 01
    Italy
    6,564-16.5%
  2. 02
    India
    3,987-1.0%
  3. 03
    England
    3,685+18.0%
  4. 04
    Nepal
    3,615+56.2%
  5. 05
    Greece
    3,028-11.1%
  6. 06
    New Zealand
    3,011+4.9%
  7. 07
    Lebanon
    2,573-1.8%
  8. 08
    Pakistan
    2,484-17.2%
  9. 09
    China (excludes SARs and Taiwan)
    2,084-19.7%
  10. 10
    Turkey
    1,846+13.0%

What we believe

Reported affiliation in Merri-bek at the 2021 Census, with the change since 2016.

  1. 01
    No religion or secular beliefs
    70,001+33.6%
  2. 02
    Christianity
    62,399-9.1%
  3. 03
    Islam
    16,764+6.1%
  4. 04
    Hinduism
    6,089+27.9%
  5. 05
    Buddhism
    3,437+3.5%
  6. 06
    Judaism
    234+88.7%

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

Merri-bek 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

Merri-bek
33.7%
Victoria
26.6%
Australia
21.3%

33.7% of Merri-bek residents speak a language other than English at home, against 26.6% for Victoria 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. 33.7% is 56,418 residents as a share of all 167,647 of us. A further 7,672 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 38.2%, which is a larger number and a weaker claim. Measured only across the residents who answered, the share is 35.3%. If you have seen a higher figure quoted for Merri-bek, 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 Merri-bek 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 Merri-bek.