The average civil court case in Dunedin takes more than six months to complete, as shown by the latest figures from the Ministry of Justice.

In the last 18 months, the average length of civil cases in Dunedin has increased by just over 4%.

The number's now sitting at 203 days per case.

Local family court cases are also taking longer to complete than they used to.

Justice and Courts Minister Amy Adams says the government aims to reduce by half the time taken for all court cases.

She's celebrating a large reduction in the average time spent on Dunedin criminal cases, down to 71 days.