HKIAC statistics reveal ‘record breaking’ 2025 for international arbitration

HKIAC received 582 new cases throughout 2025, which increased from 503 when compared to 2024 and involved a total of 1,233 parties. Over 70% of the 388 new arbitration cases were based on contracts entered into from 2020.

“The growth in dispute values demonstrates the trust that parties place in HKIAC to handle their most commercially significant matters,” Rimsky Yuen, co-chair of the HKIAC, said.

“We are encouraged that users continue to rely on the centre for fair, efficient and effective dispute resolution, especially for high value and strategically important cases.”

The total amount in dispute across all arbitration cases hit US$16.2 billion, rising from US$13.6 billion in 2024, and an average amount in dispute of US$53.7 million.

Mohammed Talib, an expert in international arbitration at Pinsent Masons, said: “Around 85% of all arbitrations heard by the HKIAC were international and involved at least one-non-Hong Kong SAR-based party, reaffirming the seat’s importance globally.”

“The 2025 statistics also saw traditional users of HKIAC arbitration, such as the US, Singapore, the UK and the Cayman Islands, remain in the top ten users by jurisdiction, but also new and more recent adopters, such as Brazil and Russia, appear too,” he said.
“Overall, 61 different jurisdictions were involved in arbitrations across 2025, reflecting the continued growth in diversity for the HKIAC.”

HKIAC handled cases involving 17 different governing laws throughout the year. Hong Kong SAR and English law remain the most selected by users, followed by Chinese, Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands.

Arbitral tribunals were made up of people from 26 different nationalities or geographic origins, with the top five coming from Hong Kong, the UK, Australia, mainland China, Singapore, and Canada.

Karah Howard, an international arbitration expert at Pinsent Masons said: “women represented 36.4% of direct appointments by the HKIAC, an increase from 34.7% in 2024.”

“The 2025 statistics reveal a notable rise in multi-party and multi-contract arbitrations. Complex arbitrations with multiple contracts and parties are common in construction arbitration which account for more than 9% of HKIAC registered cases in 2025. Almost half, 47%, of arbitrations submitted in 2025 included multiple parties or contracts, compared to just 38% in 2024 and 24% of these cases were commenced as a single arbitration under multiple contracts."

In response to this increase, the HKIAC recently issued a helpful guidance note on the compatibility of arbitration agreements in multi-contracts disputes. In 2025, the HKIAC granted almost all of the parties’ requests for consolidation, with 12 out of 14 requests consolidated.

Howard said: “The statistics give interesting insights of the use of the arrangement for interim measures between Hong Kong and Mainland China.”

“Most applications processed by the HKIAC, approximately 55%, related to assets or evidence owned by non-Mainland China parties,” she said.

“Further, the HKIAC held that the success rate of applications to the Mainland China courts for the preservation of assets or evidence is very high, which shows that there is real value in choosing Hong Kong as a seat for arbitrations involving parties from or owning assets in Mainland China."

The HKIAC handled nine emergency arbitrator applications, with an average time to appoint an emergency arbitrator of just over 15 hours and an emergency decision issued on average in just over 12 days.

Talib said: “Hong Kong SAR continues to be one of the most trusted seats of arbitration globally and one of Asia’s premier seats, and these statistics continue to reflect that.”

Howard added in relation to diversity: “women represented 36.4% of direct appointments by the HKIAC, an increase from 34.7% in 2024.”