Wellington, Oct 3 (IANS): New Zealand continues to become more culturally diverse, with more than 150 languages being spoken, and is home to people born in a diverse range of countries, the statistics department Stats NZ said on Thursday.

"Just under 30 per cent of New Zealanders were born overseas, and the census recorded well over 200 different birthplaces," said Deputy Government Statistician and Stats NZ Deputy Chief Executive for Insights and Statistics Rachael Milicich.

According to the 2023 Census data, 3.5 million people were born in New Zealand and 1.4 million were born overseas, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Pretty much every part of the world is represented here, from people born in Iceland in the north, to Argentina in the south," Milicich said.

People born in England made up 4.2 per cent of the population, followed by China and India at 2.9 per cent, respectively, she said, adding that of those born overseas, the Philippines had the largest numerical increase between 2018 and 2023, growing by 46.8 per cent.

The Maori language, an official language of New Zealand, is the most widely spoken in New Zealand after English, with 213,849 Maori speakers in 2023, up 15 per cent since the 2018 Census, statistics showed.

Auckland continued to be the most ethnically diverse region, according to the 2023 Census, adding that while half the population has a European ethnicity, it was the region with the highest proportion of people with Asian ethnicities, which is 31.3 per cent compared with 17.3 per cent nationally, and Pacific ethnicities, which is 16.6 per cent compared with 8.9 per cent nationally.

Auckland was also home to 70 per cent of the Korean and Chinese populations in the country, it said.