Translation Resource Centre
We want to translate our brochure
into a number of languages. Can you suggest which languages we
should translate into?
There are many factors to be taken into account when choosing
which languages to translate your document into. Below we have
provided some basic demographic data which may aid your decision.
Language other than English spoken at home, capital cities -
1996 Census - 2006 Census
|
1996 % |
2006% |
Change in persons
(1996-2006)’000 |
Sydney |
26.4 |
29.3 |
223.1 |
Melbourne |
25.7 |
26.3 |
133.7 |
Brisbane |
9.2 |
10.7 |
53.9 |
Adelaide |
14.9 |
15.2 |
11.8 |
Perth |
13.5 |
13.9 |
33.0 |
Hobart |
4.9 |
5.1 |
0.9 |
Darwin |
15.7 |
12.5 |
0.9 |
Canberra |
13.7 |
14.6 |
6.3 |
Between 1996 and 2006, except for Darwin, the proportion of each
capital city's non-English speakers increased. In 2006, Sydney
had the largest proportion of residents speaking languages other
than English at home (around 29% or 1.2 million people), followed
by Melbourne, while Hobart had the smallest proportion (5.1% or
10,000 people).
Top 15 languages spoken at home, Australia - 1996 Census - 2006
Census
Language |
1996 ‘000 |
2006 ‘000 |
Growth (1996-2006)
% |
English |
15,564.9 |
15,581.3 |
7.0 |
Italian |
375.8 |
316.9 |
-15.7 |
Greek |
269.8 |
252.2 |
-6.5 |
Cantonese |
202.5 |
244.6 |
20.8 |
Arabic |
177.6 |
243.7 |
37.2 |
Vietnamese |
146.3 |
194.9 |
33.2 |
German |
98.8 |
75.6 |
-23.5 |
Mandarin |
92.4 |
220.6 |
138.9 |
Spanish |
91.3 |
98.0 |
7.4 |
Macedonian |
71.3 |
67.8 |
-4.9 |
Croatian |
69.2 |
63.6 |
-8.0 |
Polish |
62.8 |
53.4 |
-14.9 |
Hindi |
34.0 |
70.0 |
106.0 |
Turkish |
46.2 |
53.9 |
16.6 |
Korean |
29.9 |
54.6 |
82.6 |
In 2006, as in 1996, the three most common languages
other than English were Italian (accounting for 1.6% of the population),
Greek (1.3%) and Cantonese (1.2%). Of these, Cantonese was the
only language which experienced an increase in the number of speakers
since 1996 (21% growth), while Italian and Greek speakers declined
in number by around 16% and 7%, respectively.
The recent growth of Asian languages and the
decline of European languages in Australia reflects the recent
trends in the birthplaces of Australia's overseas-born. Of Australia's
main non-English languages, Mandarin and Hindi have experienced
the fastest proportional growth – both more than doubling
in speakers since 1996. Conversely, German speakers declined the
most in number, falling by around 24%.
Data
provided courtesy of Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2006 Census
of Population and Housing: Media Releases and Fact Sheets. Latest
ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 06/27/2007
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