We are Port Macquarie-Hastings

3 per cent.

3 in every 100 Port Macquarie-Hastings residents speak a language other than English at home. 2,758 people, in 83 languages — small enough to be overlooked, large enough to be a community.

Our population
86,088
Speak another language
2,758
Languages at home
83
Growth since last census
+58.9%

Most of us speak English at home. 2,758 of us do not, across 83 languages, most often German, French and Spanish. 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

#75

of 128 New South Wales councils for the share of residents speaking a language other than English at home. #341 of 540 nationally.

What makes our community ours

German

174 speakers

German is spoken by 174 of our residents at home, 0.2% of Port Macquarie-Hastings.

French

135 speakers

French is spoken by 135 of our residents at home, 0.2% of Port Macquarie-Hastings.

Spanish

134 speakers

Spanish is spoken by 134 of our residents at home, 0.2% of Port Macquarie-Hastings.

The languages of Port Macquarie-Hastings

83 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 Port Macquarie-Hastings, covering 1,777 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
    German
    174+8.1%
  2. 02
    French
    135+15.4%
  3. 03
    Spanish
    134+24.1%
  4. 04
    Mandarin
    129+17.3%
  5. 05
    Nepali
    128+574%
  6. 06
    Thai
    108+96.4%
  7. 07
    Tagalog
    102+143%
  8. 08
    Cantonese
    99+17.9%
  9. 09
    Malayalam
    94+36.2%
  10. 10
    Italian
    92+22.7%

Fastest-growing among us

German

+8.1% 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. 2,758 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.

German grew 8.1% since the last census, to 174 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

10.2% of us were born overseas, across 91 countries.

  1. 01
    England
    3,582+12.1%
  2. 02
    New Zealand
    1,190+13.5%
  3. 03
    Scotland
    354-3.8%
  4. 04
    Philippines
    344+56.4%
  5. 05
    India
    310+53.5%
  6. 06
    Germany
    304+2.0%
  7. 07
    South Africa
    283+29.8%
  8. 08
    Netherlands
    250+0.8%
  9. 09
    United States of America
    236+24.9%
  10. 10
    China (excludes SARs and Taiwan)
    136+17.2%

What we believe

Reported affiliation in Port Macquarie-Hastings at the 2021 Census, with the change since 2016.

  1. 01
    Christianity
    46,462-7.2%
  2. 02
    No religion or secular beliefs
    33,129+61.9%
  3. 03
    Buddhism
    566+12.7%
  4. 04
    Hinduism
    345+101%
  5. 05
    Islam
    179+220%
  6. 06
    Judaism
    40+14.3%

Our suburbs

Our linguistic character changes street by street. Click through to any of our 42 suburbs for its own portrait: the languages spoken there, the communities calling it home.

Where we are

Port Macquarie-Hastings 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

Port Macquarie-Hastings
3.2%
New South Wales
25.7%
Australia
21.3%

3.2% of Port Macquarie-Hastings 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. 3.2% is 2,758 residents as a share of all 86,088 of us. A further 4,041 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 7.9%, which is a larger number and a weaker claim. Measured only across the residents who answered, the share is 3.4%. If you have seen a higher figure quoted for Port Macquarie-Hastings, 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 Port Macquarie-Hastings 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 Port Macquarie-Hastings.