We are Yarra

18 per cent.

About 18 in every 100 Yarra residents speak a language other than English at home, across 114 languages.

Our population
85,993
Speak another language
15,848
Languages at home
114
Growth since last census
−8.7%

16k of us — 18.4% — speak a language other than English at home, most often Vietnamese, Greek and Mandarin. A share this size is easy to design around by accident, which is precisely how it gets designed out.

In Victoria

#24

of 79 Victoria councils for the share of residents speaking a language other than English at home. #112 of 540 nationally.

What makes our community ours

Vietnamese

2,947 speakers

Vietnamese is spoken by 2,947 of our residents at home, 3.4% of Yarra.

Greek

1,966 speakers

Greek is spoken by 1,966 of our residents at home, 2.3% of Yarra.

Mandarin

1,607 speakers

Mandarin is spoken by 1,607 of our residents at home, 1.9% of Yarra.

The languages of Yarra

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 Yarra, covering 13,176 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
    Vietnamese
    2,947-11.0%
  2. 02
    Greek
    1,966-11.8%
  3. 03
    Mandarin
    1,607-14.4%
  4. 04
    Italian
    1,188-21.0%
  5. 05
    Cantonese
    1,018-10.8%
  6. 06
    Spanish
    849+2.7%
  7. 07
    French
    553-2.6%
  8. 08
    Arabic
    547-13.4%
  9. 09
    German
    451+29.2%
  10. 10
    Somali
    3970%

Fastest-growing among us

German

+29.2% since last census

We share this portrait because a council below the Victoria average is the one most likely to be planned for as though everybody here reads English. 16k 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 29.2% since the last census, to 451 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

26.2% of us were born overseas, across 121 countries.

  1. 01
    England
    3,611+10.9%
  2. 02
    New Zealand
    2,631+0.7%
  3. 03
    Vietnam
    2,331-10.2%
  4. 04
    China (excludes SARs and Taiwan)
    1,228-19.0%
  5. 05
    United States of America
    1,099+33.7%
  6. 06
    Greece
    947-17.6%
  7. 07
    Malaysia
    811+13.0%
  8. 08
    Italy
    663-17.6%
  9. 09
    India
    656+9.0%
  10. 10
    Ireland
    552+1.5%

What we believe

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

  1. 01
    No religion or secular beliefs
    52,399+24.5%
  2. 02
    Christianity
    22,598-10.9%
  3. 03
    Buddhism
    3,007-12.4%
  4. 04
    Islam
    2,165+8.4%
  5. 05
    Judaism
    599+38.7%
  6. 06
    Hinduism
    590+7.3%

Our suburbs

Our linguistic character changes street by street. Click through to any of our 10 suburbs for its own portrait: the languages spoken there, the communities calling it home.

Where we are

Yarra 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

Yarra
18.4%
Victoria
26.6%
Australia
21.3%

18.4% of Yarra residents speak a language other than English at home, against 26.6% for Victoria 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. 18.4% is 15,848 residents as a share of all 85,993 of us. A further 4,639 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 23.8%, which is a larger number and a weaker claim. Measured only across the residents who answered, the share is 19.5%. If you have seen a higher figure quoted for Yarra, 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 Yarra 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 Yarra.