SourceTargetCommunity Atlas
We are Sunshine Coast

Five years. Thousands of new neighbours.

No other kind of change reshapes a council as quickly as migration. Sunshine Coast's Portuguese-speaking community has grown by +347% since the last census. It is only one of several.

Our population
339,346
Speak another language
35,136
Languages at home
15+
Growth since last census
+84.6%
Our Portuguese-speaking community has grown by +347% in five years. Nepali, Malayalam are not far behind. Walk down any main street on a Saturday and you will hear four languages in as many minutes.
in five years
+347%
Sunshine Coast's Portuguese-speaking community grew by this much between censuses, among the largest absolute increases in Queensland.
What makes our community ours
Portuguese
960 speakers

Up +347% since the last census. From 215 to 960 speakers.

Nepali
800 speakers

Up +270% since the last census. From 216 to 800 speakers.

Malayalam
677 speakers

Up +150% since the last census. From 271 to 677 speakers.

The languages of Sunshine Coast

109 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.

German
1,398 · -5.0%
Spanish
1,071 · +98.7%
Afrikaans
1,058 · +47.6%
Mandarin
1,004 · +59.4%
Portuguese
960 · +346.5%
Punjabi
855 · +125.6%
Nepali
800 · +270.4%
French
771 · +5.9%
Malayalam
677 · +149.8%
Italian
621 · -2.2%
Thai
566 · +30.4%
Korean
531 · +39.4%
Dutch
517 · -16.2%
Tagalog
466 · +59.6%
Japanese
459 · +22.4%
GROWTH ≥ 50%
≥ 20%
≥ 5%
≥ 0%
≥ -10%
DECLINING
  1. 01
    German1,398 · 0.4%
    5.0%
  2. 02
    Spanish1,071 · 0.3%
    98.7%
  3. 03
    Afrikaans1,058 · 0.3%
    47.6%
  4. 04
    Mandarin1,004 · 0.3%
    59.4%
  5. 05
    Portuguese960 · 0.3%
    346.5%
  6. 06
    Punjabi855 · 0.3%
    125.6%
  7. 07
    Nepali800 · 0.2%
    270.4%
  8. 08
    French771 · 0.2%
    5.9%
  9. 09
    Malayalam677 · 0.2%
    149.8%
  10. 10
    Italian621 · 0.2%
    2.2%
  11. 11
    Thai566 · 0.2%
    30.4%
  12. 12
    Korean531 · 0.2%
    39.4%
Fastest-growing among us
Portuguese
+346.5% since last census

Growth this fast means services designed from the 2016 census are already out of date. This Atlas is our honest attempt to keep the picture current, for our own planning, for the agencies that partner with us, and for the families still arriving every year.

Our suburbs
Where we are
In context
Sunshine Coast
10.4%
Queensland
15.8%
Australia
27.3%

10.4% of Sunshine Coast residents speak a language other than English at home, against 15.8% for Queensland and 27.3% nationally. Drawn from the 2021 census.