SourceTargetCommunity Atlas
We are North Sydney

We are North Sydney.

Home to one of the larger Mandarin-speaking communities in New South Wales, and 93 other language communities besides.

Our population
67,716
Speak another language
18,144
Languages at home
15+
Growth since last census
+16.7%
94 languages are spoken at home in North Sydney. Mandarin leads (2,939 speakers), with Cantonese close behind (1,927). 27 per cent of us speak a language other than English at home. That is the measure of a community that has not left its languages behind.
speak Mandarin at home
2,939
Our largest community language, Mandarin, is spoken by 4.3% of North Sydney residents at home.
What makes our community ours
Mandarin
2,939 speakers

2,939 speakers, 4.3% of North Sydney. +33% since 2021.

Cantonese
1,927 speakers

1,927 speakers, 2.8% of North Sydney. +20% since 2021.

Spanish
1,060 speakers

1,060 speakers, 1.6% of North Sydney. +16% since 2021.

The languages of North Sydney

94 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.

Mandarin
2,939 · +33.2%
Cantonese
1,927 · +19.9%
Spanish
1,060 · +16.5%
Japanese
1,014 · -12.7%
Portuguese
637 · +46.1%
Hindi
617 · +24.4%
French
597 · -14.0%
Korean
478 · +15.5%
Italian
446 · -11.9%
Thai
422 · -9.8%
Russian
408 · +10.0%
Persian (excluding Dari)
363 · +23.1%
German
354 · -19.2%
Nepali
297 · +2.1%
Vietnamese
250 · +8.7%
GROWTH ≥ 50%
≥ 20%
≥ 5%
≥ 0%
≥ -10%
DECLINING
  1. 01
    Mandarin2,939 · 4.3%
    33.2%
  2. 02
    Cantonese1,927 · 2.8%
    19.9%
  3. 03
    Spanish1,060 · 1.6%
    16.5%
  4. 04
    Japanese1,014 · 1.5%
    12.7%
  5. 05
    Portuguese637 · 0.9%
    46.1%
  6. 06
    Hindi617 · 0.9%
    24.4%
  7. 07
    French597 · 0.9%
    14.0%
  8. 08
    Korean478 · 0.7%
    15.5%
  9. 09
    Italian446 · 0.7%
    11.9%
  10. 10
    Thai422 · 0.6%
    9.8%
  11. 11
    Russian408 · 0.6%
    10.0%
  12. 12
    Persian (excluding Dari)363 · 0.5%
    23.1%
Fastest-growing among us
Portuguese
+46.1% since last census

We publish this so our residents can see themselves counted, and so the agencies, funders and neighbours who serve us can see who we actually serve. Language access is not a translation line-item in our budget. It is how an emergency notice reaches a grandparent, how an enrolment form is understood, and how a health campaign actually lands in the suburbs that make up our council.

Our suburbs
Where we are
In context
North Sydney
26.8%
New South Wales
31.4%
Australia
27.3%

26.8% of North Sydney residents speak a language other than English at home, against 31.4% for New South Wales and 27.3% nationally. Drawn from the 2021 census.