Notes on the data: Birthplace & Non-English-speaking residents

People born (overseas) in predominantly English-speaking countries, 2021

Policy context: Although this indicator is far from precise, even in defining countries from which people coming to live in Australia will not face a language barrier, it is included in the absence of a better measure.

The 2021 Census of Population and Housing revealed that over 7 million people (29.3% of Australia's population, excluding those with a birthplace not stated) were born overseas, up from 25% in 2011 and 26.3% in 2016 [1][2]. This continues a trend that has seen an increase in the number of overseas-born people living in Australia since the first Census in 1911 (excluding periods during both World Wars where migration to Australia stagnated) [2]. Of the overseas-born population, 16.9% had arrived since the start of 2017 [1].

The 2,027,394 people reported as born overseas in countries designated as English-speaking were born in Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom or the United States of America. In 2021, the United Kingdom and New Zealand were the leading countries of birth for the overseas-born population from any country (at 16.4% and 7.5%, respectively) [1].

The impact of the pandemic on the population is most evident for people born in New Zealand and living in Australia, when the relatively small increase in this group between 2016 and 2021. of 16,000, is compared with the increase of 127,700 from 2001 to 2011. Whereas England continued to be the birthplace of the largest group of overseas-born living in Australia, their number decreased, from just over a million to the ABS estimate of 967,400 in June 2021.

Reference

Data for 2021 Census from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2021 Census of Population and Housing General community profile Australia Canberra ABS 2022. Available from: https://www.abs.gov.au/census/guide-census-data/about-census-tools/community-profiles; accessed 25 August 2022. For earlier Censuses, data from PHIDU workbooks, available from: https://data from PHIDU workbooks.torrens.edu.au/social-health-atlases/data-archive
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Snapshot of Australia 2021. Available from: https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/people-and-communities/snapshot-australia/latest-release#culturally-and-linguistically-diverse-communities; accessed 25 August 2022.

Notes: Countries designated as predominantly English-speaking are Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, United Kingdom and the United States of America.

In the data workbooks, the numerator excludes the 5.3% of the population (this percentage varies across States/Territories) who did not provide their country of birth: however, these records are included in the denominator.

Geography: Data available by Population Health Area, Local Government Area, Primary Health Network, Quintile of socioeconomic disadvantage of area and Quintiles within PHNs, and Remoteness Area

Numerator: People born (overseas) in English speaking countries

Denominator: Total population

Detail of analysis: Percent

Source: Compiled by PHIDU based on the ABS Census of Population and Housing, August 2021