Police say New Zealand's family violence problem isn't getting worse, despite more people calling for assistance.

Statistics from the Family Violence Clearing House show there were nearly 119,000 incidents in 2016, up by more than 8000 compared to 2015.

Acting Inspector Morgan Gray said people are now less afraid to contact police than ever before.

"There hasn't been an indication of a higher level of offending, simply we're just getting more calls for service," he said.

"That would indicate to us that people are reporting earlier on in the cycle of violence and actually calling police for help earlier."

Gray urged anyone who needs help to seek it as soon as possible.

"It's just vitally important that if people feel that something's going on in their home or someone else's home that they pick up the phone and call police or reach out and call another agency."