Mandarin
2,815 speakers
Used at home by one in 13 residents.
Perth, Western Australia
What Perth speaks at home
According to the 2021 Census, Mandarin and Spanish lead the languages spoken at home in Perth, where about 12,000 people use one other than English. Among the leading languages, Spanish has grown by about three quarters since 2016. Nationally, the share speaking another language is lower than in Perth.
- Residents
- 36,203
- Speak another language
- 12,134
- Languages at home
- 99
- Change since 2016
- +9.2%
Which languages lead in Perth?
Where does Perth land against Western Australia?
Western Australia comes in under Perth's share. Only two councils in Western Australia rank higher.
- Perth
- 33.5%
- Western Australia
- 17.3%
- Australia
- 21.3%
Residents speaking a language other than English at home, as a share of all residents.
How does Perth's language list break down?
Counts are people who speak the language at home; the chip is their change since 2016. Catch-all ABS groups aren't listed.
- 012,815+9.0%
- 02872+74.7%
- 03796+2.1%
- 04608+47.6%
- 05487+13.3%
- 06473+26.5%
- 07456-35.2%
- 08431-19.6%
- 09410+20.2%
- 10374-20.1%
What does Perth's language mix look like?
- Grew 50%+
- 25%+
- 10%+
- Held
- Slipped
- Declined 10%+
- Not comparable
- Grew 50%+
- 25%+
- 10%+
- Held
- Slipped
- Declined 10%+
- Not comparable
What's the fastest-growing language in Perth?
Fastest-growing language
Spanish
+74.7% since 2016
Spanish has grown by about three quarters since 2016, to about 870 speakers.
Which suburbs of Perth are most multilingual?
The 6 suburbs differ only a little, with Northbridge highest.
Pick a suburb to see its languages in full.
- Northbridge (WA)Led by Mandarin38%536
- CrawleyLed by Mandarin37%1,437
- East PerthLed by Mandarin37%4,229
- Perth (WA)Led by Mandarin32%4,336
- West PerthLed by Mandarin27%1,596
- Kings Park (WA)0%0
- The larger figure is each suburb's share speaking a language other than English; the smaller is people. 6 suburbs listed.
What do birthplace and religion say about Perth?
England is the most common birthplace after Australia.
Country of birth
49.6% born overseas, across 122 countries.
- 01England2,108+12.0%
- 02China (excludes SARs and Taiwan)1,985+18.0%
- 03India1,409+44.7%
- 04Malaysia990+3.4%
- 05New Zealand770-1.4%
- 06Singapore676-3.2%
- 07Indonesia591+33.7%
- 08Vietnam523+49.0%
- 09South Africa519+38.4%
- 10Philippines506+62.2%
Religious affiliation
Reported affiliation, with the change since 2016.
- 01No religion or secular beliefs17,195+39.5%
- 02Christianity10,915-0.5%
- 03Buddhism1,629+12.7%
- 04Hinduism1,504+38.7%
- 05Islam1,379+18.4%
- 06Judaism131-5.1%
Where does Perth sit on the map of Australia's languages?
Perth shaded by the share of residents speaking a multicultural languageany language other than English at home. Boundaries are ABS ASGS 2021. See every council on one map.
ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021: language used at home, by Statistical Area Level 2, rolled up to Local Government Area. Change is measured from 2016.
Blank answers matter here. 3,530 residents gave none, and they're left out of the 33.5%. Count them in and it's 43.3%; drop them from the base and it's 37.1%.
Figures for Perth itself aren't affected by the small gap between summed suburbs and ABS national totals. Unnamed ABS categories are in every total and out of every ranked list.
Reuse these figures under CC BY 4.0 with credit to LEXIGO Language Map.