India has overtaken China and New Zealand to now become the third-largest country of birth, after Australia and England, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics data released on Monday. The latest census revealed that almost 220,000 additional people were reported to be born in India.
Additionally, over one million people migrated to Australia in 2016, when the previous census was conducted.
The first release of 2021 Census data is now available.
Find out what 2021 Census data reveals about where we live, our ancestry and what languages we speak at https://t.co/xiwPiZeTUd #2021CensusDataAU pic.twitter.com/4Rb7hYsT25
— Australian Bureau of Statistics (@ABSStats) June 28, 2022
The census is a national household questionnaire carried out by Australian authorities in five years. The census took place in August 2021 when the COVID-19 pandemic was worsening across the globe, as per an ABC News report. Among other revelations, the data revealed that almost half of all Australians had a parent born in a foreign country, and more than a quarter was themselves born overseas. Notably, 48.2% of people had a parent not born in Australia. It is to note here that in 2016, the census said that 45.5% of Australians had at least one parent born overseas.
Largest increase in people speaking Punjabi at home
Moreover, Punjabi-speaking people in Australia witnessed the largest increase of 80% since 2016. Just over 367,000 Australians are using the Indian-origin language at home. Notably, the 2021 census data collected information on more than 250 ancestries and 350 languages.
“The information collected in the census provides important data to help plan services and support for culturally and linguistically diverse communities at the local level,” Australian Bureau of Statistics chief statistician David Gruen said.
“For example, by understanding the growing population groups in their area, community groups can provide in-language services at the local level”, as per the report.