All eight of Hong Kong's subsidised universities have made a renowned world ranking of tertiary institutions for the first time ever, with a record six making the top 200.

The University of Hong Kong (HKU) continues to be the highest-ranked institution from the SAR in the Times Higher Education list, coming in at 33rd, up two spots from last year.

Chinese University (CUHK) climbed three spots to 41st, while the University of Science and Technology and City University jumped eight and three places respectively, to 58th and 75th.

Polytechnic University (PolyU) is ranked 83rd in the world.

For the first time, Education and Lingnan universities also make the list - the former coming in at 195th and the latter ranked in the 301-350 group.

Baptist University, meanwhile, is placed in the 201-250 group.

"Hong Kong occupies a record six spots in the top 200 as a result of improvements in teaching reputation and its student-to-staff ratio," the British magazine said.

The SAR's Education Bureau said the encouraging results are recognition of the higher education sector's pursuit of excellence.

"They also serve as testimony to the government's significant progress in developing Hong Kong into an international post-secondary education hub," it said in a statement.

HKU said the ranking underscores its sustained excellence across teaching, research and global engagement.

"HKU remains steadfast in upholding its tradition of excellence, advancing its mission as a world-leading institution through cutting-edge teaching and research and innovative knowledge exchange," said vice chancellor Zhang Xiang in a statement.

CUHK vice chancellor Dennis Lo said this was the university's best result ever.

"Maintaining a top-100 position for ten consecutive years affirms CUHK’s leadership in international higher education and inspires us to further promote knowledge innovation," he said in a statement.

PolyU president Teng Jin-guang said the university will keep nurturing talent, in line with the national goal of building an education powerhouse and Hong Kong's development as a global higher education hub.

Overall, the UK's University of Oxford and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US are ranked first and second in the world, same as last year.

America's Princeton University and Britain's Cambridge University improved from fourth and fifth to share the third spot.

Tsinghua University and Peking University are ranked as the top universities in Asia, coming in at 12th and 13th overall, while the National University of Singapore is 17th.