The line graph illustrates how many Australian people used Chinese, Arabic, Italian and Greek as their first language.
Overall, while the number of people who used Chinese and Arabic as their first language witnessed an upward trend throughout the period, the reverse was true for Italian and Greek ones. It is also evident that Arabic language users overtook Italian ones at the end of the period.
Focusing first on the upward patterns, Chinese showed a dramatic rise, while Arabic grew gradually throughout the period. The number of Chinese and Arabic speakers started at just over 100,000 and 50,000, respectively. From 1991 to 2001, there was a sharp increase in the figure for individuals who spoke Chinese to 250,000, overtaking Italian and Greek speakers in Australia. While a gradual rise was observed in the number of Arabic users by 60,000 between 1996 and 2011, the figure for Chinese users peaked at 350,000 at the end of the period.
By contrast, Italian and Greek both recorded a consistent decline over the same period. Greek was by far the most used language among Australians, with 230,000 in 1986, whereas Italian speakers were the second highest, with 150,000. From 1991 to 2006, there was a slight fall in both Greek and Italian language users to 190,000 and just over 100,000, respectively. At the end of the period, the Greek language recorded the second highest number with about 180,000, while a stable degree was seen in Italian speakers (110,000).