$9.6T
Global OTC forex turnover averaged $9.6 trillion per day in April 2025
BIS Triennial Central Bank Survey 2025 (net-net, all instruments)
Read the detailTradeTheDay
Forex Trading Statistics 2026: Market Size & Trader Data
Updated 19 August 2026 · Research desk · Dataset: CC BY 4.0
24 brokers analysed. Every figure dated and sourced. Updated 19 Aug 2026.
Forex Trading Statistics 2026
The global FX market turned over $9.6 trillion a day in April 2025. Here is what the BIS survey, regulator data and TradeTheDay's own broker database actually show, with the source and measurement date for every number.
- Daily FX volume, Apr 2025
- $9.6T *
- USD share of trades
- 89.2% *
- Retail share of turnover
- 2.5% *
- Electronic execution
- 59% *
- * vs April 2022 (BIS Triennial Survey 2025): volume $7.5T→$9.6T · USD share 88.4→89.2% · retail 2.6→2.5% · electronic 60→59%
Regulators checked
FCAASICCySECFSCAJFSADFSABaFin
Entity checkedMethod publishedPartner links disclosed
The numbers that matter
Four Numbers That Frame the Market
One share of turnover, one share of brokers, one honest retail number, one cost-of-entry signal.
0%
US dollar share of all forex trades
BIS Triennial Survey 2025
0%
of brokers in our study offer MetaTrader 4
TradeTheDay Broker Dataset, n=24
0%
retail share of global FX turnover
BIS Triennial Survey 2025
0%
advertise a $0 minimum deposit
TradeTheDay Broker Dataset, n=24
Abstract. This research note reports the size and structure of the global over-the-counter foreign exchange market as measured by the BIS 2025 Triennial Central Bank Survey, retail trader data from regulator sources, and the TradeTheDay Forex Broker Dataset 2026 (n=24, snapshot 19 August 2026). All statistics carry their measurement date and source; original calculations are reproducible from the linked dataset.
Keywords: forex market size · FX turnover · currency market share · retail CFD loss rates · broker platform adoption · algorithmic trading
Key numbers
Forex Trading Statistics 2026: What the Data Shows
Each statistic stands alone, with its source and measurement date attached. The first four are TradeTheDay's own calculations.
+28%
Global FX turnover rose 28% between April 2022 and April 2025, from $7.5T to $9.6T per day
BIS Triennial Central Bank Survey 2025
Read the detail89.2%
The US dollar was on one side of 89.2% of all forex trades in April 2025, up from 88.4% in 2022
BIS Triennial Central Bank Survey 2025
Read the detail2.5%
Retail-driven turnover was about $242 billion per day in April 2025, roughly 2.5% of global FX turnover
BIS Triennial Central Bank Survey 2025, final data
Read the detail75%
18 of the 24 forex brokers analysed by TradeTheDay (75%) offered MetaTrader 4 as of August 2026
TradeTheDay Forex Broker Dataset 2026, n=24
Read the detail$75
The median minimum deposit across 24 forex brokers analysed by TradeTheDay was $75 as of August 2026
TradeTheDay Forex Broker Dataset 2026, n=24
Read the detail25%
6 of the 24 brokers analysed by TradeTheDay (25%) advertised a $0 minimum deposit as of August 2026
TradeTheDay Forex Broker Dataset 2026, n=24
Read the detail67%
16 of the 24 forex brokers analysed by TradeTheDay (67%) hold an FCA licence; 19 (79%) hold ASIC
TradeTheDay Forex Broker Dataset 2026, n=24
Read the detail0.7%
0.7% of UK adults (about 380,000 people) held CFDs, spread bets or rolling spot forex in May 2024
FCA Financial Lives May 2024 survey
Read the detail10-20%
Execution algorithms account for roughly 10-20% of daily spot FX volume in major currencies (2020 BIS estimate)
BIS Markets Committee Papers No 13
Read the detailTradeTheDay original research
The TradeTheDay Forex Broker Dataset 2026
Calculated from the 24 forex and multi-asset brokers in our review database, snapshot 19 August 2026. Crypto-only exchanges are excluded.
Platform Adoption
Share of the 24 brokers analysed offering each platform product.
Figure 1 · Platform adoption across the TradeTheDay broker study
Source: 2026-08-19 snapshot of the TradeTheDay broker database (Table 1). Advertised platform availability.
Regulation
Share of the 24 brokers analysed holding each licence type.
Figure 2 · Regulation coverage across the TradeTheDay broker study
Source: TradeTheDay broker database. 18 distinct regulators are represented across the sample; multi-entity brokers count once.
| Metric | Value | Count |
|---|---|---|
| Median minimum deposit | $75 | 24 brokers |
| Advertise $0 minimum deposit | 25% | 6 brokers |
| Minimum deposit $100 or less | 79.2% | - |
| Advertise raw or 0.0-pip spreads | 50% | 23 brokers with published spreads |
| Advertise minimum spread under 0.5 pips | 62.5% | - |
| Median instruments offered | 1,100 | 24 brokers |
| Median founding year | 2007 | oldest 1974, newest 2026 |
How this was calculated. Platform lists, minimum deposits, advertised spreads, regulations and instrument counts come from the broker records TradeTheDay maintains for its reviews, snapshot 2026-08-19. Spreads are advertised minimums, not measured execution costs. Counts are broker brands, not legal entities. The full method, field-level missing-data counts and the raw figures are in the downloadable dataset.
Market size
Global Forex Market Size: $9.6 Trillion a Day
Total over-the-counter forex turnover averaged $9.6 trillion per day in April 2025, up 28% from $7.5 trillion in April 2022. Source: BIS Triennial Central Bank Survey 2025.
| Instrument | April 2022 | April 2025 | Share 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FX swaps | $3,797.7 | $3,985.7 | 42% | Most traded instrument; share fell from 51% (2022) |
| Spot | $2,085.3 | $2,957.1 | 31% | Share up from 28% (2022) |
| Outright forwards | $1,157.4 | $1,846.5 | 19% | Share up from 15% (2022) |
| Options and other products | $303.3 | $634.2 | 7% | Turnover more than doubled; share up from 4% (2022) |
| Currency swaps | $123.8 | $171.9 | 2% | Stable share |
Figure 4 · Global FX turnover by instrument, April 2025
Swaps 42%
Spot 31%
Forwards 19%
Options 7%
| Survey (April) | Daily turnover | 3-year change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | $3,972.8bn | baseline |
| 2013 | $5,356.6bn | 34.8% |
| 2016 | $5,066.4bn | -5.4% |
| 2019 | $6,580.9bn | 29.9% |
| 2022 | $7,467.5bn | 13.5% |
| 2025 | $9,595.5bn | 28.5% |
Figure 3 · Global OTC FX turnover by survey year
Source: BIS Triennial Central Bank Survey, annex tables D11.1 (rpfx25_fx_tables.xlsx), retrieved 19 August 2026. The 2025 survey covered 52 jurisdictions and more than 1,100 reporting dealers. April 2025 turnover was measured during a period of elevated FX volatility after trade policy announcements.
Currencies
Most Traded Currencies and Pairs
The US dollar sits on one side of 89.2% of all trades. Because every trade has two sides, currency shares sum to 200%, not 100%.
| Currency | Share 2022 | Share 2025 | Move |
|---|---|---|---|
| US dollar | 88.4% | 89.2% | +0.7999999999999972pp |
| Euro | 30.6% | 28.9% | -1.7000000000000028pp |
| Japanese yen | 16.7% | 16.8% | +0.10000000000000142pp |
| Sterling | 12.9% | 10.2% | -2.700000000000001pp |
| Chinese renminbi | 7% | 8.5% | +1.5pp |
| Swiss franc | 5.2% | 6.4% | +1.2000000000000002pp |
| Australian dollar | 6.4% | 6.1% | -0.3000000000000007pp |
| Canadian dollar | 6.2% | 5.8% | -0.40000000000000036pp |
| Hong Kong dollar | 2.6% | 3.8% | +1.1999999999999997pp |
| Singapore dollar | 2.4% | 2.4% | 0pp |
| Pair | Share 2025 |
|---|---|
| EUR/USD | 21.2% |
| USD/JPY | 14.3% |
| USD/CNY | 8.1% |
| USD/GBP | 7.6% |
| USD/CAD | 5.3% |
| USD/AUD | 4.9% |
| USD/CHF | 4.9% |
| USD/HKD | 3.6% |
| Pair | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 YTD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EUR/USD | 1.0534 | 1.0817 | 1.0820 | 1.1306 | 1.1624 |
| USD/JPY | 131.46 | 140.50 | 151.46 | 149.57 | 158.76 |
| GBP/USD | 1.2371 | 1.2440 | 1.2781 | 1.3192 | 1.3446 |
| USD/CNY | 6.7290 | 7.0809 | 7.1957 | 7.1875 | 6.8428 |
| USD/CHF | 0.9550 | 0.8984 | 0.8808 | 0.8305 | 0.7917 |
| USD/CAD | 1.3014 | 1.3494 | 1.3699 | 1.3973 | 1.3834 |
| AUD/USD | 0.6951 | 0.6644 | 0.6597 | 0.6450 | 0.7023 |
Rates are simple averages of daily noon buying rates, quoted market-style: EUR/USD, GBP/USD and AUD/USD in USD per unit; USD/JPY, USD/CNY, USD/CHF and USD/CAD in units per USD. 2026 is the average through 14 August 2026. Source: FRED, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (H.10).
All ten most traded pairs involve the US dollar. USD/CNY turnover rose 59% between 2022 and 2025; USD/CHF rose 60% and USD/HKD 95%, per the BIS commentary.
Figure 5 · Share of global FX turnover by currency, April 2025
Geography
Where Forex Is Traded
Sales desks in the UK, US, Singapore and Hong Kong intermediate about three-quarters of global FX turnover (BIS, net-gross basis).
| Centre | Share 2022 | Share 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 38% | 37.8% |
| United States | 19.5% | 18.6% |
| Singapore | 9.5% | 11.8% |
| Hong Kong SAR | 7.1% | 7% |
| Japan | 4.4% | 3.5% |
| Germany | 1.9% | 3.1% |
| Switzerland | 3.6% | 2.9% |
| France | 2.2% | 1.9% |
| Australia | 1.5% | 1.6% |
Rate backdrop
Central Bank Policy Rates, August 2026
Rate differentials are the structural driver behind currency trends and carry. Current policy rates for the currencies in Table 4, compiled from TradingEconomics on 19 August 2026, with the central bank as primary source.
| Central bank | Policy rate | Last meeting | Primary source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Federal Reserve (United States) | 3.75% | 29 Jul 2026 | central bank site |
| Bank of England (United Kingdom) | 3.75% | 30 Jul 2026 | central bank site |
| Reserve Bank of Australia (Australia) | 4.35% | 11 Aug 2026 | central bank site |
| European Central Bank (Euro Area) | 2.40% | 23 Jul 2026 | central bank site |
| Bank of Canada (Canada) | 2.25% | 15 Jul 2026 | central bank site |
| Reserve Bank of New Zealand (New Zealand) | 2.50% | 8 Jul 2026 | central bank site |
| People's Bank of China (China) | 3.00% | 20 Jul 2026 | central bank site |
| Bank of Japan (Japan) | 1.00% | 31 Jul 2026 | central bank site |
| Swiss National Bank (Switzerland) | 0.00% | 18 Jun 2026 | central bank site |
Figure 6 · Central bank policy rates, August 2026
Read these carefully. Policy rates move slowly and change at scheduled meetings. The gap between the Reserve Bank of Australia at 4.35% and the Bank of Japan at 1.00% is one reason AUD/JPY has been a carry favourite; the euro at 2.40% and the franc at 0.00% frame EUR/CHF the other way. Rates are compiled from TradingEconomics as a convenience reference; always confirm at the central bank before trading a rate move.
Retail traders
Retail Forex & CFD Trader Statistics
Retail activity is a small slice of the global market, but it is the slice most readers trade in. These figures keep retail separate from institutional turnover.
$242bn
Retail-driven FX turnover per day in April 2025, about 2.5% of the global total
BIS Triennial Survey 2025, final data (June 2026 release)
0.7%
of UK adults (about 380,000 people) held CFDs, spread bets or rolling spot forex in May 2024
FCA Financial Lives May 2024 survey (published 16 May 2025)
3%
of UK adults used a trading app in May 2024; 47% of app users were aged 18-34 and 8% traded forex in the prior year
FCA Financial Lives May 2024 survey
How Many Retail Traders Lose Money?
Every ESMA-style regulated broker must publish the share of retail CFD accounts that lose money. TradeTheDay collected the current disclosures directly from broker sites on 19 August 2026. The figures are not directly comparable across jurisdictions: each covers a different legal entity, regulator and product set.
| Broker | Legal entity | Regulator | Disclosed loss rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plus500 | Plus500UK Ltd | FCA (FRN 509909) | 76% of retail CFD accounts |
| AvaTrade | AvaTrade EU Ltd | Central Bank of Ireland (C53877) | 70% of retail CFD accounts |
| GO Markets | GO Markets Pty Ltd | ASIC | 70% of retail CFD accounts |
| eToro | eToro (Europe) Ltd | CySEC | 51% of retail CFD accounts |
| Octa | Octa Markets Cyprus Ltd | CySEC | 36% of retail CFD accounts |
Read these carefully. CFD loss disclosures cover multiple asset classes (indices, commodities, crypto CFDs), not forex alone, and methodologies and time windows vary by entity. A 36% disclosure from a Cyprus-regulated entity is not evidence that a UK-regulated broker's clients fare better. The consistent read-across is that a majority of retail CFD accounts lose money at most regulated brokers, which is why the warning exists. Loss rates are not the same as a forecast for any individual trader.
AI & automation
AI and Algorithmic Forex Trading: What the Research Shows
Verified scan of 2025-2026 academic work plus official execution data. Backtests are not live results, and institutional automation is not retail automation.
59%
of global FX turnover was executed electronically in April 2025, virtually unchanged from 60% in 2022
BIS Quarterly Review, December 2025, Box B
10-20%
of daily spot FX volume in major currencies is executed via execution algorithms (2020 BIS estimate, institutional)
BIS Markets Committee Papers No 13, 30 October 2020
~50%
directional accuracy across 918 controlled deep-learning experiments on forex, crypto and equity data - no directional skill
Saidd, arXiv 2603.16886, February 2026
The 2025-2026 Academic Record
The TradeTheDay research team scanned arXiv for 2025-2026 research on ML and FX prediction. The most rigorous papers are the negative ones: two independent studies find the random walk and simple linear models are hard to beat, and a 918-experiment controlled comparison finds directional accuracy stuck near 50%. The strongest positive results (a graph-learning study across 30 years of data; a transformer study on daily FX closes) are backtests without live trading records.
| Paper | Sample | Claimed result | Honest caveat |
|---|---|---|---|
| ML and the Random Walk Puzzle (CAD/USD) | USD/CAD, 2017-2026 | Only simple linear regression beats the random walk | Negative result; short monthly sample (113 observations) |
| Forecast Collapse of Transformers Under Squared Loss | EUR/USD 30-second bars, 2020-2025 | Transformers underperform a linear benchmark on most windows | Negative result; single pair, single model family |
| Controlled Comparison of DL Architectures (918 experiments) | Forex, crypto, equity indices | Directional accuracy ~50% across all configurations | Negative result; single author preprint |
| Graph Learning for FX Prediction and Stat-Arb | 10 most-traded currencies, 1995-2024 | 61.9% higher information ratio vs benchmark | Backtest only; single data vendor; not peer-reviewed |
| EXFormer: Multi-Scale Transformer for FX | EUR/USD, USD/JPY, GBP/USD daily, 2010-2024 | Sharpe above 1.8 before costs in a ~1-year backtest | Backtest only; short live-track record |
Data, not hype. Around 59% of FX turnover is executed electronically and execution algorithms handle a meaningful share of institutional spot volume, but no credible published estimate exists for the share of retail volume run by Expert Advisors or "AI" tools. Retail-driven flow is about 2.5% of global turnover. Treat any claim that AI reliably beats the forex market as unproven: the strongest academic evidence points the other way.
Interpretation
Forex Trends to Watch in 2026
What follows is TradeTheDay analysis of the data above, not a prediction. The data and the interpretation are separated on purpose.
01
Turnover is up, and it is not just volatility
The 28% jump to $9.6T a day was measured during April 2025 tariff-driven volatility, but growth shows up across instruments: spot up 42%, outright forwards up 60%, options more than doubled. The structural shift is the growth of forwards and options, not just spot.
DATA: BIS Triennial 2025
02
The dollar's share keeps climbing
USD share rose again to 89.2%, the euro fell to 28.9% and sterling dropped sharply to 10.2%. The renminbi (8.5%) and Swiss franc (6.4%) gained. TradeTheDay reads this as continued dollar dominance rather than a diversified multi-currency market.
DATA: BIS Triennial 2025
03
Singapore is consolidating as the third hub
Singapore's share rose from 9.5% to 11.8% while London (37.8%) and New York (18.6%) held steady. For Asia-Pacific traders, venue choice is shifting east.
DATA: BIS Triennial 2025
04
Retail economics push toward zero-deposit, zero-spread products
In our broker study, 25% advertise $0 minimum deposits and 50% advertise raw or 0.0-pip spreads. The advertised price of entry is falling; the real cost is in commissions, swaps and execution, which is why we refuse to convert advertised minimums into "what you will pay".
ANALYSIS: TradeTheDay, from Broker Dataset 2026
05
The AI trading story is mostly backtests
The academic record from 2025-2026 is dominated by negative results on directional skill. Institutional execution is increasingly electronic, but that is automation of order routing, not predictive AI. TradeTheDay will keep tracking both.
ANALYSIS: TradeTheDay, from arXiv scan + BIS execution data
Methodology
How These Numbers Were Sourced
Every statistic on this page answers two questions: who produced it, and when. If a number could not answer both, it was removed.
TradeTheDay broker study
- Sample: 24 forex and multi-asset broker brands in the TradeTheDay review database, snapshot 19 August 2026.
- Excluded: 8 crypto-only exchanges (Binance, Kraken, Coinbase, KuCoin, Bitget and similar) because the study measures forex brokers.
- Counts broker brands, not legal entities; multi-entity brands count once.
- Spread figures are advertised minimums from broker records, not measured execution.
- Missing data: 0 of 24 missing deposits, 1 missing spreads, 0 missing instruments.
- Recomputable:
npx tsx scripts/forex-stats-dataset.tsregenerates the dataset from src/data/brokers.ts.
External statistics
- BIS figures parsed from the official Triennial 2025 annex tables (rpfx25_fx_tables.xlsx) and commentary, retrieved 19 August 2026.
- Regulator figures (FCA Financial Lives) quoted from the published survey documents.
- Loss disclosures collected directly from broker sites on 19 August 2026, with entity, regulator and URL recorded per row.
- arXiv papers verified against abstracts and full texts; results reported as claimed, with backtest/live status flagged.
- Annual update rule: measurement dates are never relabelled. A 2025 survey stays a 2025 survey in the 2026 edition.
For journalists & researchers
Cite This Research
Quoting is encouraged. The dataset is free, ungated, and licensed for reuse with attribution.
TradeTheDay Research Team. "Forex Trading Statistics 2026: Market Size & Trader Data". TradeTheDay, updated 19 August 2026. https://tradetheday.com/statistics/forex-trading
License: CC BY 4.0 for the dataset and TradeTheDay's own calculations. Third-party figures remain the property of their named sources (BIS, FCA, the cited brokers and authors). Please attribute the named source for those numbers.
Sources
Primary Sources
The full source register with per-statistic metadata ships inside the downloadable JSON.
- BIS Triennial Central Bank Survey 2025, FX turnover commentary, 30 September 2025 - bis.org/statistics/rpfx25_fx.htm
- BIS Triennial Survey 2025, annex tables - bis.org/statistics/rpfx25_fx_tables.xlsx
- BIS Quarterly Review, December 2025, Box B (FX execution) - bis.org/publ/qtrpdf/r_qt2512.pdf
- BIS Markets Committee Papers No 13, FX execution algorithms, 30 October 2020 - bis.org/publ/mktc13.htm
- FCA Financial Lives May 2024 survey - fca.org.uk/financial-lives/financial-lives-2024
- Broker CFD loss disclosures: Plus500, AvaTrade, GO Markets, eToro, Octa (live sites, retrieved 19 August 2026; URLs in dataset)
- arXiv: 2606.15058, 2604.00064, 2603.16886, 2508.14784, 2512.12727 (verified August 2026)
- TradeTheDay Forex Broker Dataset 2026 (n=24, snapshot 19 August 2026) - this page
- FRED H.10 exchange rates (annual averages computed by TradeTheDay, retrieved 19 August 2026) - fred.stlouisfed.org
- TradingEconomics policy-rate compilation (retrieved 19 August 2026) - tradingeconomics.com
- Finviz (live US equity market context) - finviz.com
FAQ
Forex Statistics Questions
How big is the forex market?
Global over-the-counter forex turnover averaged $9.6 trillion per day in April 2025, according to the BIS Triennial Central Bank Survey - up 28% from $7.5 trillion in April 2022. That makes forex the largest financial market by daily volume.
What is the most traded currency pair?
EUR/USD, at 21.2% of global turnover in April 2025 per the BIS survey. USD/JPY follows at 14.3% and USD/CNY at 8.1%. All of the ten most traded pairs involve the US dollar.
What percentage of retail forex traders lose money?
Regulated brokers are required to disclose the share of retail CFD accounts that lose money, and those disclosures range from 36% to 76% across the five brokers TradeTheDay checked in August 2026. Loss rates are not directly comparable across jurisdictions because each disclosure covers a different legal entity and product set.
How much of forex trading is retail?
About 2.5% of global FX turnover - roughly $242 billion per day in April 2025 - is retail-driven, per the BIS survey. The other 97.5% is inter-dealer and institutional activity.
Is forex trading bigger than the stock market?
By daily volume, yes. Forex trades about $9.6 trillion per day versus roughly $1 trillion across major global stock exchanges. Forex also trades nearly 24 hours a day, five days a week. For a live view of US equity valuations and sector maps, Finviz is a useful reference.
What is the minimum deposit to start forex trading?
Among the 24 brokers in the TradeTheDay database, the median advertised minimum deposit was $75 as of August 2026. Six brokers (25%) advertise a $0 minimum, and 79% accept $100 or less.
What share of forex trading is algorithmic?
About 59% of FX turnover is executed electronically, but execution algorithms specifically account for roughly 10-20% of daily spot volume in major currencies (BIS Markets Committee, 2020). No credible published estimate exists for the retail segment.
Which country trades the most forex?
The United Kingdom, with 37.8% of global FX turnover in April 2025. The US follows at 18.6%, Singapore at 11.8% and Hong Kong at 7.0%. The top four centres account for about three-quarters of all trading.
Put the data to work
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