The line graph illustrates changes in the number of people in Australia who spoke Chinese, Arabic, Italian and Greek as their first language between 1986 and 2011.
Overall, the number of Chinese and Arabic speakers increased significantly over the period, whereas the figures for Italian and Greek declined. By the end of the period, Chinese had become the most widely spoken first language among the four groups.
In 1986, Greek was the most common language, with around 230,000 speakers, followed by Italian at approximately 150,000. However, both languages experienced a steady decrease over time. The number of Greek speakers fell gradually 180,000 until 2011, while Italian declined more sharply, reaching just over 100,000 by the and of the period.
By contract, the population of Chinese speakers rocketed rapidly from around 110,000 in 1986 to approximately 350,000 in 2011, overtaking Greek in the mid-1990s. Similary, Arabic speakers displayed modestly compared with Chinese, with 50,000 in 1986 and soared dramatically until 150,000.