We are Playford

14 per cent.

About 14 in every 100 Playford residents speak a language other than English at home, across 132 languages.

Our population
98,158
Speak another language
14,088
Languages at home
132
Growth since last census
+39.2%

14k of us — 14.4% — speak a language other than English at home, most often Nepali, Hazaraghi and Vietnamese. A share this size is easy to design around by accident, which is precisely how it gets designed out.

In South Australia

#16

of 70 South Australia councils for the share of residents speaking a language other than English at home. #134 of 540 nationally.

What makes our community ours

Nepali

1,414 speakers

Nepali is spoken by 1,414 of our residents at home, 1.4% of Playford.

Hazaraghi

1,274 speakers

Hazaraghi is spoken by 1,274 of our residents at home, 1.3% of Playford.

Vietnamese

890 speakers

Vietnamese is spoken by 890 of our residents at home, 0.9% of Playford.

The languages of Playford

132 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 Playford, covering 9,960 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
    Nepali
    1,414+105%
  2. 02
    Hazaraghi
    1,274+133%
  3. 03
    Vietnamese
    890+10.1%
  4. 04
    Dinka
    782-3.0%
  5. 05
    Swahili
    750+79.9%
  6. 06
    Arabic
    598+38.4%
  7. 07
    Kirundi (Rundi)
    538+7.2%
  8. 08
    Khmer
    500+13.1%
  9. 09
    Punjabi
    474+225%
  10. 10
    Italian
    437-27.6%

Fastest-growing among us

Hazaraghi

+133.3% since last census

We share this portrait because a council below the South Australia average is the one most likely to be planned for as though everybody here reads English. 14k 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.

Hazaraghi grew 133.3% since the last census, to 1,274 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

20.1% of us were born overseas, across 117 countries.

  1. 01
    England
    6,322-9.4%
  2. 02
    Afghanistan
    1,124+49.1%
  3. 03
    Philippines
    893+56.4%
  4. 04
    India
    724+95.1%
  5. 05
    Scotland
    715-18.8%
  6. 06
    New Zealand
    641+11.3%
  7. 07
    Vietnam
    637+26.9%
  8. 08
    Bhutan
    618+65.2%
  9. 09
    Nepal
    564+117%
  10. 10
    Myanmar
    482+219%

What we believe

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

  1. 01
    No religion or secular beliefs
    50,392+40.6%
  2. 02
    Christianity
    33,522-15.1%
  3. 03
    Islam
    3,734+86.1%
  4. 04
    Buddhism
    1,773+18.0%
  5. 05
    Hinduism
    1,222+71.4%
  6. 06
    Judaism
    14+55.6%

Our suburbs

Our linguistic character changes street by street. Click through to any of our 31 suburbs for its own portrait: the languages spoken there, the communities calling it home.

Where we are

Playford 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

Playford
14.4%
South Australia
16.9%
Australia
21.3%

14.4% of Playford residents speak a language other than English at home, against 16.9% for South Australia 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. 14.4% is 14,088 residents as a share of all 98,158 of us. A further 5,917 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 20.4%, which is a larger number and a weaker claim. Measured only across the residents who answered, the share is 15.3%. If you have seen a higher figure quoted for Playford, 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 Playford 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 Playford.