We are Northern Beaches

15 per cent.

About 15 in every 100 Northern Beaches residents speak a language other than English at home, across 112 languages.

Our population
260,531
Speak another language
38,163
Languages at home
112
Growth since last census
+8.9%

38k of us — 14.6% — speak a language other than English at home, most often Mandarin, Portuguese and Italian. A share this size is easy to design around by accident, which is precisely how it gets designed out.

In New South Wales

#31

of 128 New South Wales councils for the share of residents speaking a language other than English at home. #133 of 540 nationally.

What makes our community ours

Mandarin

3,511 speakers

Mandarin is spoken by 3,511 of our residents at home, 1.3% of Northern Beaches.

Portuguese

3,475 speakers

Portuguese is spoken by 3,475 of our residents at home, 1.3% of Northern Beaches.

Italian

3,124 speakers

Italian is spoken by 3,124 of our residents at home, 1.2% of Northern Beaches.

The languages of Northern Beaches

112 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 Northern Beaches, covering 29,129 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
    3,511+5.8%
  2. 02
    Portuguese
    3,475+32.4%
  3. 03
    Italian
    3,124-8.0%
  4. 04
    Spanish
    3,002+38.5%
  5. 05
    French
    2,461+14.7%
  6. 06
    German
    2,202+1.7%
  7. 07
    Cantonese
    1,7050%
  8. 08
    Armenian
    1,239+3.6%
  9. 09
    Serbian
    1,185+5.9%
  10. 10
    Japanese
    1,074+8.6%

Fastest-growing among us

Nepali

+65.9% 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. 38k 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.

Nepali grew 65.9% since the last census, to 949 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

27.7% of us were born overseas, across 135 countries.

  1. 01
    England
    20,979+3.9%
  2. 02
    New Zealand
    5,712-4.9%
  3. 03
    South Africa
    3,980+15.7%
  4. 04
    China (excludes SARs and Taiwan)
    3,647+3.2%
  5. 05
    United States of America
    2,914+20.7%
  6. 06
    Brazil
    2,901+38.8%
  7. 07
    Italy
    2,275+5.7%
  8. 08
    Germany
    2,045+8.2%
  9. 09
    India
    1,784+9.9%
  10. 10
    Philippines
    1,692+5.9%

What we believe

Reported affiliation in Northern Beaches at the 2021 Census, with the change since 2016.

  1. 01
    Christianity
    125,747-8.0%
  2. 02
    No religion or secular beliefs
    115,062+33.0%
  3. 03
    Buddhism
    3,501-4.3%
  4. 04
    Hinduism
    2,083+39.4%
  5. 05
    Islam
    1,226+20.6%
  6. 06
    Judaism
    761+12.7%

Our suburbs

Our linguistic character changes street by street. Click through to any of our 49 suburbs for its own portrait: the languages spoken there, the communities calling it home.

Where we are

Northern Beaches 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

Northern Beaches
14.6%
New South Wales
25.7%
Australia
21.3%

14.6% of Northern Beaches 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. 14.6% is 38,163 residents as a share of all 260,531 of us. A further 9,058 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 18.1%, which is a larger number and a weaker claim. Measured only across the residents who answered, the share is 15.2%. If you have seen a higher figure quoted for Northern Beaches, 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 Northern Beaches 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 Northern Beaches.