The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has released its Dispute Resolution Statistics for 2025, giving a detailed snapshot of the caseload of one of the world’s leading arbitral institutions.
The figures point to a busy and geographically broad caseload, with a record 1,869 pending cases, and parties to the newly-registered 2025 cases coming from 147 countries and territories. Broader trends include growing participation from a few key jurisdictions, increasing use of ICC arbitration for regional disputes, some uptake of expedited procedures, and continued progress in gender diversity of arbitrator appointments.
These statistics predate the ICC Arbitration Rules 2026, which took effect on 1 June 2026 and apply to ICC arbitrations commenced on or after that date. For further information and analysis of the 2026 Rules, and their implications for arbitration users, please see CMS’s separate Legal Update here.
Reports such as these are valuable for users and potential users of international arbitration, not only for the insights into emerging trends, but also because they provide a degree of transparency into a dispute resolution process that is otherwise largely confidential. They help parties understand who is using ICC arbitration, where disputes are coming from, how tribunals are constituted and how procedural tools such as expedited arbitration are being used in practice.
Record Caseload
In 2025, 881 cases were filed under the ICC Arbitration Rules, and a further 13 under the Rules of ICC as Appointing Authority. This places 2025 among the top three years on record for case volume and is consistent with the trend identified by CMS in our 2023 study: that the number of arbitrations at the majority of institutions, including the ICC, has been steadily rising. Where a formal dispute resolution process is required, arbitration remains one of the most popular options for businesses globally.
With 1,869 cases still open at the end of the year, 2025 set a record for pending caseload. Large projects and complex contractual structures involving multiple stakeholders continue to lead to ICC arbitrations, with 2,531 parties involved in new cases filed in 2025; the second-highest number of parties on record.[1] The ICC has a strong reputation for administering multi-contract and multi-party disputes, often seen in construction, infrastructure, energy and major commercial projects.
Globalisation or Regionalisation?
The figures suggest that ICC arbitration is not only a forum for geographically distant cross-border disputes arising in an increasingly globalised world. In 2025, half of all newly registered cases (50.1%) involved parties from the same region.[2] This figure has steadily increased in recent years, from 42.1% in 2015. Parties are perhaps increasingly turning to the ICC for their in-region commercial disputes on account of the institution’s reputation for neutrality, efficiency, and enforceability of awards, not only because they need a cross-border forum.
There is regional variation in the popularity of ICC arbitration for disputing parties that are either states or state-owned entities. Over 15% of parties from North and Sub-Saharan Africa are states or state-owned, and 5% to 11% in much of the rest of the world. But they made up just 1% to 2% of parties from North America and North and West Europe.
The international reach of the ICC is not in question: the 2,531 parties newly registered in 2025 came from 147 countries or independent territories, matching the record number of jurisdictions represented in 2019. The largest regional increases were seen in North America (318 parties in 2025, up from 215 in 2024), the Middle East and Central Asia (267 parties, up from 240 in 2024) and East & South Asia and the Pacific (353 parties, up from 294 in 2024).
There was record participation from several nations, including Brazil (212 parties, making it the second-most represented nationality worldwide after the United States), Uruguay (30), China[3] (102), Australia (34), Spain (141) and Portugal (32). The ICC statistics do not identify the reasons for these country-level increases, however, the figures are consistent with continued strong use of arbitration in markets with significant infrastructure, construction and energy activity. Several of these jurisdictions have also seen increases in foreign direct investment, and some have judicial systems experiencing backlogs, which can prompt more commercial parties to choose arbitration (e.g. Brazil – see our Expert Guide chapter here).
The increasing participation of Chinese parties in ICC arbitrations is notable. This has grown steadily, from 80 parties in 2020 to 98 in 2024, and 102 in 2025. This could reflect increasing trust among Chinese parties in international institutions such as the ICC, notwithstanding the availability of well-established domestic options such as CIETAC and HKIAC. However, the caseloads of those regional institutions are also growing strongly, showing that they remain very much in demand.
Choice of Law and Arbitrator Nationality
English law, once again, was the most frequently selected applicable law (113), equal this year with those of a US State (113, up significantly from 69 in 2024). Brazilian (54), Swiss (50), German (48), French (44) and Spanish law (43) follow. Regionally, North & West European laws saw a slight drop from 2024 (41.3% in 2025 compared to 45% in 2024), whilst North America (USA & Canada) saw the biggest increase (14.7% compared to 9.5% in 2024). That increase likely correlates with the increase in North American parties.
The most common nationalities of arbitrators broadly follows the trends for choice of law with UK nationality topping the list again in 2025 (11%), followed by US (8%), Brazil (7%), France (6.9%), Spain (6.3%), Switzerland (5.7%), Germany (4.7%), Canada (2.7%) and Mexico (2.5%).
European Seats Dominate
For those negotiating arbitration clauses, the statistics confirm the continued prominence of established European seats, while also showing that ICC arbitrations are seated across a wide range of jurisdictions. In 2025, just over half of all ICC arbitrations (53.1%) were seated in Europe, which is broadly consistent with the 2024 statistics, confirming the region’s continued popularity. Looking at the broader picture, ICC arbitrations were seated in 123 cities across 70 countries and independent territories, with the seat being fixed by the ICC Court in 10% of cases.
This mirrors the wider picture across arbitral institutions: the 2025 International Arbitration Survey conducted by Queen Mary University of London and White & Case LLP asked respondents to name their preferred seats, and respondents from four out of six regions ranked London first, and the city was also ranked among the top four seats across all regions. Paris also featured in the top four across all regions except for respondents in Asia-Pacific, underlining the global prominence of these key European seats.
No Sector Shifts
The leading sectors represented in ICC arbitrations remained construction and engineering (28% of all cases) and energy (15%). Other popular sectors included health and pharmaceuticals (6%); transportation (5.5%); telecoms and specialised technologies (5%); industrial equipment and services (4.8%); financing and insurance (4.6%); business services (4.4%); general trade and distribution (3.4%); and leisure and entertainment (2%).
The most significant year-on-year sectoral changes were increases in construction and engineering, up 4.8% from 2024, and in health, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, up 1.2%. Most other sectors saw modest declines; despite remaining the second-most popular sector, energy-related arbitrations fell by 5.5%, financing and insurance by 1.2%, and those in the general trade and distribution sector fell by 1.1%.
In our 2023 study of sector preferences in arbitration, we noted that Renewables / Green Energy had been flagged by various institutions as a sector for future growth. The ICC also told us they anticipate an increase in disputes relating to the gaming industry, and that sport-related arbitrations are on the rise. That may yet hold true, but we are certainly not yet seeing spikes of cases in those sectors in a way that could knock construction, engineering and energy from the top spots.
Gender Diversity: Parties still trailing the ICC Court
Overall, 29.6% of arbitrators appointed in 2025 were women, slightly up on 28.6% in 2024. However, there remains a contrast between institutional appointments and party nominations. Of the nominations made by parties in 2025, 23% were women, continuing a positive upwards trend (women made up 19% of party nominations in 2024), but still significantly below the 44.6% of the ICC Court’s appointments that went to women. This disparity is not unique to the ICC; according to the LCIA’s 2024 statistics, female arbitrators in LCIA arbitrations were more likely to be appointed by the LCIA Court (45%) than nominated by parties (21%). While institutions can influence diversity, parties and counsel still play a central role in determining the composition of tribunals.
To Expedite or Not to Expedite?
The average amount in dispute in new cases fell sharply in 2025 to just over US$50 million, down from US$130 million in 2024. However, our review of the statistics from previous years suggests average dispute values can fluctuate significantly. The median value remained steady at around US$5m, suggesting the fall in average value is more about the absence of very high-value outliers last year.
Relatively low value cases make up a significant proportion of ICC cases. 36% of new cases registered in 2025 (approx. 317) involved an amount in dispute not exceeding US$3 million, the threshold below which the Expedited Procedure Provisions (EPP) automatically applied if the parties had not opted out (the ICC Rules 2026 increased this threshold to US$4 million from 1 June 2026). The EPP were used to administer 169 new cases in 2025, an increase on the previous year, suggesting parties in approximately half of eligible arbitrations are still choosing to opt out of an expedited procedure. For commercial parties negotiating new ICC clauses, the increased US$4m threshold under the 2026 Rules should be considered expressly at the drafting stage – including whether to accept the default position, opt out, or provide for a different procedure. Next year’s report should also report on the level of adoption of the ICC’s new Highly Expedited Arbitration Procedure, introduced under the 2026 ICC Rules and applicable only by agreement between the parties.
Conclusions
The 2025 statistics point to sustained demand for ICC arbitration, a record pending caseload, a broad and increasingly diverse user base, continued growth in participation from several key jurisdictions and a significant number of disputes involving multiple parties and complex commercial arrangements. They also suggest that ICC arbitration is increasingly being used not only for traditional cross-border disputes, but also for regional disputes in which parties value institutional administration, neutrality and the global enforceability of awards, and that it is popular for lower value disputes. The statistics reinforce the ICC’s position as a trusted forum of choice, whatever the size or origin of a dispute. We will continue to monitor how these trends develop, particularly as parties adjust to the new 2026 ICC Rules.
More broadly, the publication of detailed statistics is a valuable feature of modern international arbitration. In a process where hearings, submissions and awards are generally confidential, annual statistical reporting gives users greater visibility into how arbitral institutions operate in practice and how arbitration trends evolve over time. We have previously called for transparent reporting in the context of arbitration disputes values. For businesses considering whether and how to use ICC arbitration, that transparency can provide useful context when making decisions about dispute resolution clauses, arbitral seats, procedural options and tribunal composition.
For further information, please get in touch with the authors of this article or your usual CMS contact.
The authors would like to thank Lily Clarke, Trainee Solicitor, for her assistance with this article.
[1] In 2016, 3,099 parties were registered (a figure which was driven by a large number of related small claims arising from a single collective dispute).
[2]The regional categories used by the ICC are: North America (USA & Canada); Latin America & Caribbean; North & West Europe; Central & South-East Europe; Middle East & Central Asia; North Africa; Sub-Saharan Africa; East & South Asia and Pacific.
[3] Including Hong Kong SAR.
