We are Sunshine Coast

5 per cent.

5 in every 100 Sunshine Coast residents speak a language other than English at home. 18k people, in 114 languages — small enough to be overlooked, large enough to be a community.

Our population
337,911
Speak another language
17,568
Languages at home
114
Growth since last census
+49.2%

Most of us speak English at home. 18k of us do not, across 114 languages, most often German, Spanish and Afrikaans. Small communities are the ones a mainstream service misses first and notices last — which is the whole reason to count them.

In Queensland

#33

of 76 Queensland councils for the share of residents speaking a language other than English at home. #242 of 540 nationally.

What makes our community ours

German

1,406 speakers

German is spoken by 1,406 of our residents at home, 0.4% of Sunshine Coast.

Spanish

1,062 speakers

Spanish is spoken by 1,062 of our residents at home, 0.3% of Sunshine Coast.

Afrikaans

1,054 speakers

Afrikaans is spoken by 1,054 of our residents at home, 0.3% of Sunshine Coast.

The languages of Sunshine Coast

114 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 Sunshine Coast, covering 12,863 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
    1,406-4.5%
  2. 02
    Spanish
    1,062+99.2%
  3. 03
    Afrikaans
    1,054+47.4%
  4. 04
    Mandarin
    998+58.7%
  5. 05
    Portuguese
    937+338%
  6. 06
    Punjabi
    852+128%
  7. 07
    Nepali
    800+270%
  8. 08
    French
    755+4.6%
  9. 09
    Malayalam
    673+148%
  10. 10
    Italian
    619-3.1%

Fastest-growing among us

Portuguese

+337.9% since last census

We share this portrait because a council below the Queensland average is the one most likely to be planned for as though everybody here reads English. 18k 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.

Portuguese grew 337.9% since the last census, to 937 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

18.7% of us were born overseas, across 138 countries.

  1. 01
    England
    20,084+14.5%
  2. 02
    New Zealand
    14,516+8.9%
  3. 03
    South Africa
    4,080+45.4%
  4. 04
    India
    2,225+97.1%
  5. 05
    Scotland
    1,805+8.6%
  6. 06
    Germany
    1,788+5.9%
  7. 07
    United States of America
    1,747+48.3%
  8. 08
    Philippines
    1,390+41.5%
  9. 09
    Canada
    1,230+41.5%
  10. 10
    Netherlands
    1,137+3.2%

What we believe

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

  1. 01
    No religion or secular beliefs
    159,285+58.6%
  2. 02
    Christianity
    148,975-7.2%
  3. 03
    Buddhism
    3,326-3.5%
  4. 04
    Hinduism
    2,161+103%
  5. 05
    Islam
    748+45.2%
  6. 06
    Judaism
    196+37.1%

Our suburbs

Our linguistic character changes street by street. Click through to any of our 106 suburbs for its own portrait: the languages spoken there, the communities calling it home.

Where we are

Sunshine Coast 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

Sunshine Coast
5.2%
Queensland
12.2%
Australia
21.3%

5.2% of Sunshine Coast residents speak a language other than English at home, against 12.2% for Queensland 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. 5.2% is 17,568 residents as a share of all 337,911 of us. A further 17,383 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 10.3%, which is a larger number and a weaker claim. Measured only across the residents who answered, the share is 5.5%. If you have seen a higher figure quoted for Sunshine Coast, 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 Sunshine Coast 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 Sunshine Coast.