ICC releases preliminary 2025 dispute resolution statistics

Caseload

In 2025, 881 cases were filed under the ICC Arbitration Rules and 13 new cases were filed under the ICC Appointing Authority Rules, bringing the total number of new cases registered to 894, ranking 2025 among the top three years in terms of case volume.

At the end of the year, 1,869 cases were ongoing, marking a record year in terms of pending caseload. In December, the ICC Court reached a milestone when it registered its 30,000th case under the ICC Arbitration Rules.

Emergency arbitration

Of the 881 new cases, 30 began with Emergency Arbitrator (EA) applications, bringing the total number of EA applications to 287 since the introduction of the Emergency Arbitration procedure in 2012.

In 2025, EA proceedings involved 84 parties from all continents, with 11 applications involving multiple parties. Eight applications were filed in the context of domestic disputes.

Expedited arbitration

In 2025, 169 new cases were administered under the Expedited Procedure Provisions (EPP). Since the procedure was established in 2017, the ICC Court has administered 1,034 cases under the EPP, resulting in 591 awards. ICC’s new Report, Toolkit and Factsheet, provide a comprehensive review of close to 800 expedited procedures, along with procedural guidance to arbitrators on how to successfully navigate expedited proceedings.

Parties in ICC arbitrations

Cases filed in 2025 involved 2,531 parties – the second highest number of parties behind the record figure of 3,099 parties reached in 2016, where 135 related small claims were filed in relation to a collective dispute.

Parties came from 147 countries or independent territories – matching the record coverage of jurisdictions set in 2019. Figures mark a significant rise in parties from North America, East and South Asia, and the Pacific, with India returning to the top 10 nationality rankings.

As in 2024, the top three nationalities were: the United States (representing 11.2% of all parties), Brazil (8.4%), and Spain (5.6%). Completing the top 10 nationality ranking are France, China (incl. Hong Kong SAR), Germany, the United Arab Emirates, Mexico, Türkiye and India.

Places of arbitration

ICC arbitral tribunals were seated in 123 cities across 70 countries or independent territories, closely following a previous record of 127 cities in 71 countries, achieved in 2021.

The top 10 jurisdictions were France, the United Kingdom, the US, Switzerland, Singapore, Brazil, Spain, Germany, Mexico and the United Arab Emirates.

Value of claims

The aggregate value of cases pending at year end reached US$299 billion, with disputes ranging from just below US$2,500 to US$31 billion.

The average amount in dispute for newly registered cases was approximately US$50 million, while pending cases involved an average of approximately US$172 million.

As in previous years, the median amount in dispute in new cases was approximately US$5 million and reached US$14 million in cases pending at year end.

Arbitral awards

In 2025, the ICC Court achieved its second-highest annual total for approved awards with 607 awards, of which 444 final awards, 118 partial awards, and 45 awards by consent. A record was set in 2021 with 630 total awards and 465 final awards.

Claudia Salomon, President of the ICC International Court of Arbitration, said:

“We greatly appreciate the continued trust that the global business community, as well as states and state-owned enterprises, place in ICC’s dispute resolution services, for cases large and small, across the sectors, and around the world.”

ICC International Centre for ADR

In 2025, a total of 65 requests were filed with the ICC International Centre for ADR: 36 under the Mediation Rules, 25 under the Expert Rules, three under the DOCDEX Rules and one under the Dispute Board Rules.*

ADR services involved a total of 156 parties from 46 jurisdictions across all regions, with 62 parties coming from Europe, 34 from Asia, 24 from Latin America and the Caribbean, 23 from North America, and 13 from Africa.

* While the Dispute Board Rules may be applied without recourse to ICC, the administrative services that facilitate their application are exclusively provided by the ICC ADR Centre.

The full 2025 ICC Dispute Resolution Statistics report will be released later this year. ICC Dispute Resolution statistical reports since 1997 are available on the ICC Dispute Resolution Library^TM.

Information presented herewith is subject to verification prior to publication in the complete 2025 annual statistical report.