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Newcastle, New South Wales

Newcastle's multilingual community

The 2021 Census counted about 15,000 people in Newcastle using a language other than English at home, and Mandarin tops that list. None of those languages reaches one resident in 100. Nationally, a language other than English is at least twice as common.

Residents
165,232
Speak another language
15,239
Languages at home
125
Change since 2016
+14.8%

What are the three biggest languages after English in Newcastle?

Small as they are, Mandarin, Macedonian and Arabic are the largest.

Mandarin

1,559 speakers

That's fewer than one in 100 residents.

Macedonian

1,044 speakers

Used at home by fewer than one in 100 residents.

Arabic

851 speakers

The community has grown by more than a quarter since 2016.

Which five languages lead in Newcastle, and how have they changed?

Mandarin has led the list since at least 2016.

Five rows to start: the languages with the most speakers, and how each has changed since 2016.

  1. 01
    Mandarin
    1,559-16.2%
  2. 02
    Macedonian
    1,044-4.3%
  3. 03
    Arabic
    851+33.0%
  4. 04
    Greek
    687-5.5%
  5. 05
    Vietnamese
    595+29.1%

Where does Newcastle sit against the City of Sydney?

The share for the City of Sydney is more than twice as high as Newcastle's. Newcastle is 34th among New South Wales councils.

Newcastle
9.2%
City of Sydney
33.9%
Australia
21.3%

Share of residents speaking a language other than English at home, by the same method for every area.

Find Newcastle on the diversity index.

How does the share change across Newcastle's suburbs?

Jesmond is highest, at one in three residents; Minmi is lowest.

The suburb names link through to their own figures.

Where were Newcastle's residents born?

England is the most common overseas birthplace.

Country of birth

12.5% born overseas, across 126 countries.

  1. 01
    England
    3,530+10.9%
  2. 02
    New Zealand
    1,657+4.0%
  3. 03
    India
    1,653+52.8%
  4. 04
    China (excludes SARs and Taiwan)
    1,284-23.1%
  5. 05
    Philippines
    1,024+43.6%
  6. 06
    United States of America
    627+19.4%
  7. 07
    North Macedonia
    625
  8. 08
    South Africa
    540+87.5%
  9. 09
    Germany
    489-3.2%
  10. 10
    Vietnam
    480+39.9%

Religious affiliation

Reported affiliation, with the change since 2016.

  1. 01
    No religion or secular beliefs
    76,059+47.1%
  2. 02
    Christianity
    73,885-12.6%
  3. 03
    Islam
    2,761+47.7%
  4. 04
    Hinduism
    1,776+85.4%
  5. 05
    Buddhism
    1,772-3.7%
  6. 06
    Judaism
    94+109%

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.

The headline 9.2% counts only residents who named a language other than English. 7,851 people left the question blank; treat every blank as another language and the figure is 14.0%, while measuring only those who answered gives 9.7%.

National totals here run slightly under ABS published figures, because summing suburbs misses people without a usual address. Broad ABS categories count in the totals but not in the ranked lists.

Reuse these figures under CC BY 4.0 with credit to LEXIGO Language Map.

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