ICC Court of Arbitration marks highest-ever pending caseload in 2025

Last year was one of the court’s top three busiest years on record, as it reached the milestone of 30,000 filing under its arbitration rules. It approved 607 arbitral awards, the second highest on record, throughout the year, according to its preliminary dispute resolution statistics.

Pamela McDonald, an expert in international arbitration, said that users are increasingly turning to emergency arbitration, with 30 emergency arbitrator applications filed in 2025 compared to 17 last year. She highlighted that 11 of the emergency applications involved multiple parties, reflecting an increase in complex multi-party multi-contract arbitration.

McDonald added that users are also increasingly resorting to expedited proceedings, which saw 169 cases in 2025 compared to 152 last year. Expedited procedures have now exceeded 1,000 cases since 2017, underscoring their growing importance.

In response to user demand for greater efficiency, major institutions are raising the monetary thresholds for expedited proceedings and developing tools, such as the ICC’s toolkit and factsheet, to support parties seeking quicker, more streamlined resolution. 
The value of claims remained steady in 2025. The aggregate value of cases pending at year end reached US$299 billion, a slight deep from last year, with disputes ranging from just below US$2,500 to US$31 billion. However, the median amount in dispute, i.e. the middle value of all claim amounts in new cases and cases pending at year end was US$5 million and US$14 million respectively, similar to previous years.

Sylvia Tonova, an expert in international arbitration, said: “The number of parties involved also rose from 2,392 parties across 136 jurisdictions in 2024 to 2,531 parties across 147 jurisdictions in 2025, reflecting a broader global reach,” she said.

“There were also notable increases in parties from North America, east and south Asia and the Pacific throughout the year,” she said.

Meanwhile, the ICC’s alternative disputes resolution centre received 65 new requests, similar to previous years, mainly under the mediation and expert proceedings rules, involving 156 parties across 46 jurisdictions.