Prevalence among culturally and linguistically diverse communities 2021 (AIHW, Census 2021)
Based on the Census 2021 data:
* People born in Australia had a higher prevalence of asthma (10.3% crude prevalence; 10.5%, age standardised) than people born in any other country
* People born in Australia, English-speaking and European countries generally had higher prevalence of asthma, arthritis, cancer, lung conditions and mental health conditions
* For people born overseas, the (age-standardised) prevalence of asthma increased with time since arrival in Australia, from 2.72% for 0-5 years to 4.14% for 6-10 years; 4.99% for 11-15 years and 7.20% for more than 15 years
* People who spoke English had a higher (age-standardised) prevalence of asthma (10.29%) than any other language except Auslan (15.17%), Maori (New Zealand, 14.63%), Sign languages (nfd, 14.49%), Gaelic (12.36%), Maltese (10.49%) and Welsh (10.38%)
* The (age standardised) prevalence of asthma decreased with decreasing level of proficiency in English
Figures are displayed below. Factors can be combined (e.g. time since arrival and proficiency in English)
| Age standardised asthma prevalence by country of origin | |||||
| Rank | Country (most common countries of origin) | Overall prevalence | 0-10 years in Australia | >10 years in Australia | Change over time (fold) |
| 1 | Australia | 10.5 | |||
| 2 | New Zealand | 9.68 | 9.33 | 10.14 | 1.1 |
| 3 | England | 7.99 | 6.52 | 8.72 | 1.3 |
| 4 | USA | 7.77 | 6.35 | 9.09 | 1.4 |
| 5 | Scotland | 7.76 | 6.68 | 8.16 | 1.2 |
| 6 | Sri Lanka | 6.73 | 4.81 | 8.41 | 1.7 |
| 7 | South Africa | 6.64 | 5.27 | 7.37 | 1.4 |
| 8 | Philippines | 6.37 | 4.52 | 7.94 | 1.8 |
| 9 | Iraq | 5.28 | 3.94 | 7.17 | 1.8 |
| 10 | Germany | 5.03 | 4.05 | 5.7 | 1.4 |
| 11 | Malaysia | 4.58 | 2.94 | 5.68 | 1.9 |
| 12 | Hong Kong (SAR of China) | 4.5 | 2.9 | 6.08 | 2.1 |
| 13 | Greece | 4.46 | 3.6 | 5.48 | 1.5 |
| 14 | Lebanon | 4.45 | 3.07 | 5.58 | 1.8 |
| 15 | Italy | 4.07 | 2.84 | 4.93 | 1.7 |
| 16 | Pakistan | 3.96 | 3.08 | 5.61 | 1.8 |
| 17 | Vietnam | 3.74 | 1.71 | 5.47 | 3.2 |
| 18 | India | 2.91 | 1.77 | 3.93 | 2.2 |
| 19 | Nepal | 2.02 | 1.8 | 2.43 | 1.4 |
| 20 | South Korea | 1.78 | 0.94 | 2.58 | 2.7 |
| 21 | China (excl. SARs and Taiwan | 1.59 | 1.03 | 2.4 | 2.3 |
Top 5 are anglo-saxon cultural background!
Age-standardised asthma prevalence by language used at home:
| Language | asthma prevalence (age standardised) | Rank | % of population speaking this language |
| English (only) | 10.29 | 1 | |
| Italian | 6.8 | 2 | |
| Tagalog (Philippines) | 6.73 | 3 | |
| Greek | 6.68 | 4 | |
| Spanish | 6.65 | 5 | |
| Arabic | 6.52 | 6 | 1.4 |
| Sinhalese (Sri lanka) | 6.37 | 7 | |
| Vietnamese | 6.21 | 8 | 1.3 |
| Filipinoa | 6.1 | 9 | |
| Tamil (Sri lanka) | 5.24 | 10 | |
| Cantonese (incl. Hong Kong) | 4.5 | 11 | 1.2 |
| Indonesian | 4.49 | 12 | |
| Urdu (Pakistan) | 4.37 | 13 | |
| Persian (excl. Dari) | 4.18 | 14 | |
| Hindi (India) | 4 | 15 | |
| Malayalam (India) | 3.41 | 16 | |
| Nepali (Nepal) | 3.2 | 17 | |
| Punjabi (India, Pakistan) | 2.54 | 18 | 0.9 |
| Gujarati (India) | 2.3 | 19 | |
| Mandarin | 2.22 | 20 | 2.7 |
| Korean | 1.9 | 21 |
reference for % population speaking this language: Australian Bureau of Statistics. Cultural diversity: Census [Internet]. Canberra: ABS; 2021 [cited 2023 June 16]. Available from: https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/people-and-communities/cultural-diversity-census/latest-release.