Cantonese Becomes Australia’s Fourth Most Spoken Foreign Language as Number of Hong Kong Arrivals Hit Record Highs

Hong Kong Rally on the steps of Victoria Parliament in Melbourne, Australia on 28 July 2019. The Epoch Times

The latest figures published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reveal that Australia’s Cantonese-speaking population increased by more than 14,000 in the space of five years, making Cantonese the fourth most spoken language in the country.

According to the ABS census data released on June 28, the top five most spoken languages excluding English, are Mandarin (2.7 percent), Arabic (1.4 percent), Vietnamese (1.3 percent), Cantonese (1.2 percent), and Punjabi (0.9 percent).