We are Newcastle

9 per cent.

9 in every 100 Newcastle residents speak a language other than English at home. 15k people, in 125 languages — small enough to be overlooked, large enough to be a community.

Our population
165,232
Speak another language
15,239
Languages at home
125
Growth since last census
+14.8%

Most of us speak English at home. 15k of us do not, across 125 languages, most often Mandarin, Macedonian and Arabic. 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

#35

of 128 New South Wales councils for the share of residents speaking a language other than English at home. #173 of 540 nationally.

What makes our community ours

Mandarin

1,559 speakers

Mandarin is spoken by 1,559 of our residents at home, 0.9% of Newcastle.

Macedonian

1,044 speakers

Macedonian is spoken by 1,044 of our residents at home, 0.6% of Newcastle.

Arabic

851 speakers

Arabic is spoken by 851 of our residents at home, 0.5% of Newcastle.

The languages of Newcastle

125 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 Newcastle, covering 10,129 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
    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%
  6. 06
    Spanish
    577+42.1%
  7. 07
    Italian
    576-21.4%
  8. 08
    Malayalam
    517+58.6%
  9. 09
    Urdu
    507+92.8%
  10. 10
    Cantonese
    474-8.3%

Fastest-growing among us

Urdu

+92.8% 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. 15k 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.

Urdu grew 92.8% since the last census, to 507 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

12.5% of us were 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%

What we believe

Reported affiliation in Newcastle at the 2021 Census, 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%

Our suburbs

Our linguistic character changes street by street. Click through to any of our 47 suburbs for its own portrait: the languages spoken there, the communities calling it home.

Where we are

Newcastle 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

Newcastle
9.2%
New South Wales
25.7%
Australia
21.3%

9.2% of Newcastle 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. 9.2% is 15,239 residents as a share of all 165,232 of us. A further 7,851 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 14.0%, which is a larger number and a weaker claim. Measured only across the residents who answered, the share is 9.7%. If you have seen a higher figure quoted for Newcastle, 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 Newcastle 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 Newcastle.