Arabic
3,890 speakers
Arabic is spoken by 3,890 of our residents at home, 1.8% of Penrith.
We are Penrith
19 per cent.
About 19 in every 100 Penrith residents speak a language other than English at home, across 141 languages.
- Our population
- 216,014
- Speak another language
- 40,031
- Languages at home
- 141
- Growth since last census
- +32.2%
40k of us — 18.5% — speak a language other than English at home, most often Arabic, Punjabi and Tagalog. A share this size is easy to design around by accident, which is precisely how it gets designed out.
In New South Wales
#26
of 128 New South Wales councils for the share of residents speaking a language other than English at home. #111 of 540 nationally.
What makes our community ours
Punjabi
3,103 speakers
Punjabi is spoken by 3,103 of our residents at home, 1.4% of Penrith.
Tagalog
2,676 speakers
Tagalog is spoken by 2,676 of our residents at home, 1.2% of Penrith.
The languages of Penrith
141 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
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.
Fastest-growing among us
Gujarati
+346.1% 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. 40k 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.
Gujarati grew 346.1% since the last census, to 1,093 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
21.0% of us were born overseas, across 130 countries.
- 01India6,685+77.1%
- 02England5,506-10.9%
- 03Philippines5,053+35.0%
- 04New Zealand4,211+7.6%
- 05China (excludes SARs and Taiwan)1,558+39.9%
- 06Fiji1,410+34.7%
- 07Malta1,110-4.0%
- 08Sri Lanka993+30.0%
- 09Pakistan964+46.3%
- 10Nepal846+162%
What we believe
Reported affiliation in Penrith at the 2021 Census, with the change since 2016.
- 01Christianity118,836-6.0%
- 02No religion or secular beliefs64,143+51.9%
- 03Hinduism7,161+108%
- 04Islam6,624+59.1%
- 05Buddhism2,426+18.2%
- 06Judaism28-50.9%
Our suburbs
Our linguistic character changes street by street. Click through to any of our 34 suburbs for its own portrait: the languages spoken there, the communities calling it home.
- CaddensTop language — Gujarati41%1,395
- Oxley ParkTop language — Arabic36%1,544
- Mount VernonTop language — Assyrian Neo-Aramaic35%425
- Jordan SpringsTop language — Punjabi32%3,727
- WerringtonTop language — Nepali30%1,589
- St Marys (NSW)Top language — Arabic30%3,855
- ColytonTop language — Arabic27%2,364
- Kingswood (Penrith - NSW)Top language — Punjabi25%2,668
- St Clair (Penrith - NSW)Top language — Arabic24%4,674
- Claremont MeadowsTop language — Tagalog23%1,165
- Orchard HillsTop language — Maltese22%390
- Erskine ParkTop language — Arabic22%1,411
- LlandiloTop language — Maltese21%340
- LuddenhamTop language — Arabic17%307
- PenrithTop language — Mandarin17%2,939
- North St MarysTop language — Tagalog16%660
- Glenmore ParkTop language — Punjabi16%3,991
- Cambridge ParkTop language — Arabic11%785
- Londonderry (NSW)Top language — Maltese11%433
- South PenrithTop language — Mandarin11%1,299
- MulgoaTop language — Arabic10%228
- JamisontownTop language — Arabic10%529
- CastlereaghTop language — Maltese10%119
- Berkshire ParkTop language — Maltese9%190
- CranebrookTop language — Arabic8%1,288
- Cambridge GardensTop language — Mandarin8%161
- WallaciaTop language — Mandarin8%133
- RegentvilleTop language — Arabic8%83
- Werrington DownsTop language — Arabic8%240
- Werrington CountyTop language — Hindi7%275
- LeonayTop language — German7%176
- Agnes BanksTop language — Greek5%49
- Emu PlainsTop language — Greek5%433
- Emu Heights (NSW)Top language — Tagalog5%166
- 34 suburbs in Penrith. Percentage is residents speaking a language other than English at home; the figure beneath it is how many people that is.
Where we are
Penrith 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
- Penrith
- 18.5%
- New South Wales
- 25.7%
- Australia
- 21.3%
18.5% of Penrith 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. 18.5% is 40,031 residents as a share of all 216,014 of us. A further 13,490 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 24.8%, which is a larger number and a weaker claim. Measured only across the residents who answered, the share is 19.8%. If you have seen a higher figure quoted for Penrith, 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 Penrith 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 Penrith.