More than 1.7 million people call South Australia home with almost 430,000 born overseas coming from more than 214 countries, speaking 248 languages and practicing 128 religions.

Our state’s multicultural diversity is reflective of our ancestries, countries of birth, religions, and languages spoken.

At a glance

  • The top 10 ancestries nominated are English, Scottish, Irish, German, Italian, Chinese, Indian, Greek, Dutch and Vietnamese.
  • The top 10 countries of birth are England, India, China, Vietnam, Italy, Philippines, New Zealand, Scotland, Germany and Malaysia.
  • About 18% of South Australians speak a language other than English at home and the top ten languages are Mandarin, Italian, Greek, Vietnamese, Punjabi, Filipino/Tagalog, Arabic, Cantonese, Hindi and Nepali.
  • The top religion nominated by South Australians was Christianity (40%). The major non-Christian religions nominated were Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism.

More detailed statistics about each of these areas of diversity are available in the drop-down sections below.

A snapshot and highlights of our state’s cultural and linguistic diversity including infographics is also available in our South Australian Multicultural Highlights (PDF, 5.8 MB).

The information on these pages has been prepared by Multicultural Affairs based on data from the 2021 Census conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

South Australia's population statistics

In the Census, ‘ancestry’ means where a person, their parents or grandparents were born, or the cultural group a person most strongly identifies with. When people respond to the Census question about their ancestry, they can choose to answer ‘No’ or select one or two ancestries.

In the last Census, while South Australians identify with over 300 different ancestries, the top 35 responses are included here.

Ancestry20212016
English 676,550 639,356
Australian578,82556,0371
Scottish 149,449 140,425
Irish 136,035 134,436
German 135,225 129,924
Italian 103,914 96,011
Chinese 58,895 52,273
Indian 43,598 33,070
Greek 40,704 38,184
Australian Aboriginal 39,358 8,167
Dutch 29,585 26,496
Vietnamese 22,897 20,285
Filipino 21,257 15,889
Polish 20,394 18,708
Welsh 12,820 12,099
Croatian 10,178 8,179
Punjabi 9,826 2,367
Nepalese 8,740 3,473
French 8,171 7,568
Maltese 7,877 6,813
Serbian 7,329 5,860
Hazara 7,276 2,945
Russian 6,924 6,169
New Zealander 6,809 6,802
Khmer (Cambodian) 6,369 5,407
South African 6,288 4,706
Hungarian 6,119 5,615
Afghan 6,023 6,291
Lebanese 5,941 5,228
Spanish 5,801 5,416
Ukrainian 5,643 5,035
Sikh 5,626 1,219
Iranian 5,174 4,419
Pakistani 4,999 3,068
Korean4,8124,391

In the last Census, most South Australians said they were born in Australia. The top 35 responses for other countries of birth are included here.

Country of birth20212016
England95,24897,392
India44,88127,592
China (excludes SARs and Taiwan)25,70924,609
Vietnam17,03314,338
Italy16,65318,537
Philippines15,50312,460
New Zealand13,46112,933
Scotland11,47011,991
Germany9,48910,118
Malaysia9,0997,744
Afghanistan 8,2146,313
South Africa8,2126,609
Greece8,1458,681
Nepal7,2502,853
Netherlands6,1466,597
Pakistan5,6663,442
Sri Lanka5,3113,790
United States of America5,2334,355
Iran5,2134,526
Poland4,7774,957
Hong Kong (SAR of China)4,2523,575
Korea, Republic of (South)3,8373,680
Cambodia3,7163,196
Thailand3,6042,845
Ireland3,2953,301
Croatia2,8292,865
Singapore2,7892,488
Wales2,7652,839
Canada2,6232,224
Indonesia2,3782,141
Myanmar2,3481,575
Bangladesh2,2461,967
Bosnia and Herzegovina2,1931,969
Kenya2,1701,699
Brazil2,025870

*SAR/SARs = Special Administrative Region/s of China

In the last Census, around half of South Australians either did not state their religion, had no religious affiliation, or had other spiritual beliefs. Of the many religions observed by South Australians, the top 35 responses are included here.

Religion

2021

2016

Western Catholic273,882299,393
Anglican Church of Australia127,973167,652
Uniting Church84,797118,231
Christian, nfd47,11246,527
Lutheran43,30551,703
Islam40,30228,547
Hinduism38,10522,921
Greek Orthodox36,14934,998
Buddhism33,78831,287
Baptist26,22626,478
Pentecostal, nfd18,69317,335
Sikhism17,2598,812
Presbyterian12,68717,420
Jehovah's Witnesses6,0335,827
Serbian Orthodox3,8173,473
Churches of Christ (Conference)3,1963,967
Atheism3,0292,862
Christadelphians2,9962,901
Seventh-day Adventist2,9522,742
Salvation Army2,9304,095
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints2,7723,152
Methodist, so described2,6053,047
Own Spiritual Beliefs2,2061,731
Agnosticism2,2021,893
Other Protestant, nfd2,0101,650
Paganism1,6411,322
Baha'i1,5201,516
Russian Orthodox1,3451,292
Druse1,259791
Judaism1,1451,030
Syro Malabar Catholic883664
Coptic Orthodox Church882775
Born Again Christian795717
Brethren783815
Australian Christian Churches (Assemblies of God)743899

In the last Census, over 1.3 million of South Australians reported that they speak English at home. Of the other languages spoken by South Australians, the top 35 responses are included here.

Languages spoken at home20212016
Mandarin32,13328,780
Italian23,82829,103
Greek21,88222,997
Vietnamese21,85519,022
Punjabi 20,0049,309
Arabic11,0339,293
Cantonese10,1669,666
Hindi9,8847,311
Nepali9,6714,501
Hazaraghi7,4473,925
Gujarati7,4124,351
Spanish 7,2735,665
Tagalog6,4335,490
German 5,4516,455
Persian (excluding Dari)5,4074,747
Polish5,1305,682
Urdu5,0392,942
Malayalam4,8093,690
Filipino4,7753,859
Khmer4,6024,255
Serbian 4,3024,179
Sinhalese 4,2272,643
Korean3,6953,596
Russian3,5633,288
Tamil3,3422,699
Dari2,9883,408
Afrikaans2,9033,288
Croatian2,9003,076
Bengali2,8632,942
French2,7552,719
Portuguese2,6722,699
Swahili2,6382,643
Thai2,4302,556
Telugu2,3852,408
Japanese2,3032,201

These migration overview tables show the Local Government Areas with the highest percentage of their population born overseas and where these populations come from (including the number of residents born overseas).

Migration overview – top 10 Local Government Areas: metropolitan

Local Government Area Percentage of population born overseas Largest overseas-born communities (number of residents born)
City of Adelaide 45% China (3,004), England (1,003), India (850), Malaysia (720) and Hong Kong (525)
Campbelltown City Council 36% Italy (3,025), China (2,844), India (2,709), England (1,716) and Malaysia (966)
City of Port Adelaide Enfield 36% India (10,200), Vietnam (5,157), England (4,508), China (2,918) and Afghanistan (2,224)  
City of Salisbury 34% England (7,004), India (6,614), Vietnam (4,032), Afghanistan (3,720) and Philippines (2,665)
City of Burnside 33% China (2,838), England (2,065), India (1,399), Malaysia (891) and Italy (580)
City of West Torrens 32% India (3,606), England (1,805), China (1,492), Nepal (1,271) and Greece (1,248)
City of Norwood Payneham & St Peters 31% China (1,585), England (1,517), Italy (1,315), India (1,305) and Malaysia (428)
Town of Walkerville 30% England (375), India (276), China (242), Malaysia (123) and Vietnam (119)
City of Marion  29% England (5,758), India (2,829), China (2,364), Nepal (1,558) and Philippines (1,052)
City of Prospect 29% India (1,304), England (763), Vietnam (514), China (371) and Italy (370)

* Percentages have been rounded to the nearest whole number. As per the 2021 Census, China figures exclude Special Administrative Regions (SARs) and Taiwan, and while Hong Kong is a SAR of China it is reported separately.

Migration overview - top Local Government Areas: regional

Local Government AreaPercentage of population born overseasLargest overseas-born communities (number of residents born)
Alexandrina Council22%England (2,605), New Zealand (249), Scotland (227), Netherlands (202) and Germany (196)
Adelaide Hills Council21%England (2,888), Germany (346), New Zealand (331), South Africa (252) and United States of America (227)
Victor Harbor City Council19%England (1,715), Scotland (163), New Zealand (151), Germany (145), Netherlands (117)
Whyalla City Council18%England (1,367), Scotland (461), Philippines (328), India (194) and South Africa (163) 
Port Augusta City Council17%England (257), India (186), New Zealand (62), Timor-Leste (60) and Germany (60)  
Mount Barker District Council 15%England (2,434), South Africa (348), New Zealand (327), Germany (266) and Scotland (221)
Naracoorte Lucindale Council15%New Zealand (165), England (161), Afghanistan (149), Philippines (139) and China (101)

* Percentages have been rounded to the nearest whole number. As per the 2021 Census, China figures exclude Special Administrative Regions (SARs) and Taiwan.

Population resources

To learn more about South Australia’s cultural diversity, visit: