Australia
English is the largest language response, No Religion leads the religion profile, and Australia is the largest birthplace group. The strongest language movement in the visible responses is Seychelles Creole.
Population estimate
26,748,001
Top language
English
Top religion
No Religion
Top birthplace
Australia
Chapter 1
Language profile
2026 projected speakers, trend from 2011, and the underlying census-year sequence.
English
18,696,127
+4%
Mandarin
863,791
+30%
Arabic
397,679
+11%
Vietnamese
355,011
+14%
Punjabi
313,764
+36%
Cantonese
304,196
+7%
The table compares 2011, 2016, 2021 and projected 2026 speaker counts for the six leading visible language responses.
Chapter 2
Religion profile
No Religion is the largest projected religion response, with 12,449,544 people in 2026 and +29% change from 2021.
Chapter 3
Birthplace profile
Australia is the largest projected birthplace group, with 17,512,543 people in 2026 and +5% change from 2021.
Source table
Underlying data
| # | Response | 2011 | 2016 | 2021 | 2026 proj. | 2021–26 chg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | 16,185,509 | 16,693,208 | 17,940,303 | 18,696,127 | +4% |
| 2 | Mandarin | 324,420 | 577,424 | 664,498 | 863,791 | +30% |
| 3 | Arabic | 280,046 | 313,354 | 357,347 | 397,679 | +11% |
| 4 | Vietnamese | 225,141 | 268,305 | 310,461 | 355,011 | +14% |
| 5 | Punjabi | 68,531 | 127,428 | 231,281 | 313,764 | +36% |
| 6 | Cantonese | 255,342 | 271,679 | 285,501 | 304,196 | +7% |
| 7 | Hindi | 105,810 | 151,827 | 187,768 | 232,941 | +24% |
| 8 | Greek | 242,922 | 228,192 | 219,526 | 210,557 | -4% |
| 9 | Italian | 288,060 | 259,985 | 215,681 | 190,152 | -12% |
| 10 | Spanish | 108,256 | 129,762 | 159,316 | 185,867 | +17% |
| 11 | Nepali | 26,186 | 59,837 | 125,208 | 172,061 | +37% |
| 12 | Tagalog | 73,789 | 101,778 | 121,198 | 149,888 | +24% |
| 13 | Urdu | 33,985 | 65,273 | 105,816 | 143,466 | +36% |
| 14 | Korean | 75,991 | 103,747 | 108,923 | 131,881 | +21% |
| 15 | Tamil | 46,734 | 68,747 | 89,497 | 113,158 | +26% |
| 16 | Gujarati | 32,894 | 50,769 | 78,012 | 102,922 | +32% |
| 17 | Filipino | 48,374 | 62,739 | 82,764 | 102,519 | +24% |
| 18 | Malayalam | 23,647 | 49,715 | 73,938 | 101,799 | +38% |
| 19 | Sinhalese | 45,246 | 60,446 | 81,039 | 100,155 | +24% |
| 20 | Persian (excluding Dari) | 31,422 | 54,040 | 67,082 | 88,450 | +32% |
| 21 | Bengali | 33,183 | 50,910 | 65,105 | 83,833 | +29% |
| 22 | Portuguese | 29,485 | 44,241 | 61,323 | 78,945 | +29% |
| 23 | Indonesian | 50,669 | 60,977 | 66,710 | 78,316 | +17% |
| 24 | Thai | 30,364 | 47,443 | 57,309 | 74,055 | +29% |
| 25 | Telugu | 17,103 | 31,640 | 55,026 | 73,883 | +34% |