Rock avalanches are the extremely rapid flow-like movements of dry debris with extreme destructive potential. The mobility of these landslides can be characterised with Fahrböschung (defined as the ratio of fall height H over runout distance L) and runout distance. Here we statistically analyze the effects of local topography on the mobility of rock avalanches using a database that includes 36 well-documented events that occurred in south-western China, half of which induced by the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. The analysis is conducted by distinguishing the three basic confinement categories of the rock avalanches, i.e. L-confined (laterally confined), U-confined (unconfined) and F-confined (frontally confined). The results of simple linear regression for H/L ratio and of multiple linear regression for runout distance L indicate that runout distance is preferable as a measure of mobility compared with H/L ratio due to the higher coefficient of determination. Moreover, the box-plots of residuals of the logarithm of runout distance indicated that frontal confinement tends to reduce runout distance, while lateral confinement enhances it. However, additional statistical analyses should be conducted exploiting a larger database of rock avalanches from a wider variety of environments.