Emoji diversity coming to Facebook

Women in different roles will be among the new emojis on Facebook Messenger. Photo / Facebook

Facebook has introduced a greater range of emojis to its Messenger service.

More than 1,500 new emojis will be introduced to the Messenger platform on web, iOS and Android from tomorrow in New Zealand.

A female police officer, runner and swimmer are among the 100 new emojis designed to "better reflect gender and skin tones". More designs of women in different roles will be rolled out in the future.

Facebook said the new emojis will be available around the world from tomorrow. Photo / Facebook

"We're diversifying the genders to create a more balanced mix that's more representative of our world," Facebook wrote in a post.

"The new designs, gender-agnostic options and multi-coloured emojis will be available on many Android devices and web products for the first time."

People will be able to select the skin tone they want to see their emojis appear in and can change the skin tone when necessary.

Facebook said 10 per cent of messages on Messenger mobile feature an emoji.

"Emojis have changed the way we talk to each other - whether it's a smiley face to show you're happy, a thumbs up, or a pizza when hungry, emojis are a fun, easy way to express yourself when words just aren't enough - and people love them," Facebook said.

After tomorrow's update people will see a new emoji icon at the left of the composer, which will bring up the new emoji keyboard.

Emojis will always appear in the skin tone a person selects. Photo / Facebook