Forex Statistics.
The Forex market is a fast-paced, dynamic arena - one that is often maligned. But investing in Forex can be a profitable venture - so long as you’re armed with the proper information.
Tim Fries.
Tim Fries is the cofounder of The Tokenist. He has a B. Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan, and an MBA from the University .
Reviewed by.
Shane Neagle.
Shane Neagle.
Meet Shane. Shane first starting working with The Tokenist in September of 2022 — and has happily stuck around ever since. Originally from Maine, .
Updated January 10, 2022.
All reviews, research, news and assessments of any kind on The Tokenist are compiled using a strict editorial review process by our editorial team. Neither our writers nor our editors receive direct compensation of any kind to publish information on tokenist.com. Our company, Tokenist Media LLC, is community supported and may receive a small commission when you purchase products or services through links on our website. Click here for a full list of our partners and an in-depth explanation on how we get paid.
The foreign exchange market is the largest and most liquid market on Earth. We’ve compiled a list of important, up-to-date, actionable statistics regarding Forex trading so that you know what you’re getting into if you choose to trade Forex.
These statistics have been sourced from credible, authoritative websites, as well as international surveys, central banks, and other financial institutions. The data we’ve compiled is derived from sources which include:
The Bank for International Settlements’ triennial survey released in 2022 Euromoney magazine’s 2022 FX survey The Federal Reserve Bank of New York The Bank of England The Australian Foreign Exchange Committee operating under the Reserve Bank of Australia The Bank of Japan.
Although the broader market has experienced a variety of unexpected, negative effects due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Forex market has remained relatively unscathed – at least for now. In fact, the volume of trading has increased due to the volatility that the pandemic has brought on.
It is impossible to tell how the pandemic will affect the foreign exchange market from here on out, but up to this point, the increased volatility of the global economy has brought about a huge amount of opportunities for Forex traders – particularly in the short term.
What you’ll learn.
History of Forex Trading Size of the Forex Market Forex Trader Demographics and Statistics Forex Broker Stats Forex Currencies Forex Currency Pairs Forex Market by Country Forex Trading vs Cryptocurrency.
History of Forex Trading ��
Forex trading as we now know it began in 1973, after the collapse of the Bretton Woods system, which tightly regulated exchange rates. However, Forex trading has existed in one form or another for a very long time – just about as long as humans have used coinage.
There is evidence that Forex trading, or an early form of it, occurred in ancient Babylon, Egypt, and the Byzantine Empire. In the 15th century, the famed Medici family of Florence opened banks in foreign lands specifically for the purpose of facilitating trade and currency exchange. The first true Forex market was established in the Dutch city of Amsterdam, some 500 years ago.
The story of modern Forex trading begins with the gold standard. Adopted by various countries around the world in the late 19th and early 20th century, the gold standard guaranteed the value of national currencies. Any note could be converted into a certain amount of gold.
The expenses of WW1 meant that countries had to start printing large amounts of money that weren’t backed by gold – this led to inflation, and the eventual abandonment of the gold standard in 1931.
After WW2, a new system was put in place with the Bretton Woods agreement. The US dollar was pegged to gold, at a fixed rate of $35 per ounce. The dollar became the world’s reserve and reference currency – and other national currencies were fixed to the dollar.
Eventually, the budget and trade deficits of the US, as well as its dwindling gold reserves, led president Richard Nixon to abandon the Bretton Woods system in 1971. By 1973, the modern form of Forex trading had already taken shape.
But that isn’t quite the end of the story. For the longest time, Forex trading was an arena that was solely available to large institutions with a huge amount of capital, such as governments and banks.
However, the 1990s brought with them a perfect storm for Forex trading – dozens of economies had begun the transition to capitalism, and technology, particularly the internet and electronic communication networks, revolutionized communication and information exchange.
All of a sudden, the barriers that prevented your average Joe from giving Forex trading a try were gone. The advent of retail Forex brokers allowed individual forex traders to invest far smaller sums – and it was no longer required to have an army of brokers and traders at your beck and call to participate in this form of investing.
That brings us to the present day. Now, Forex trading is popular in a number of jurisdictions. There are a number of regulated forex brokers in the United States, and several other leading countries as well.
But what does the future hold in store? We don’t claim to know for certain, of course – but today’s technological advancements are already beginning to have an effect on the Forex market. The rise of cryptocurrencies, in particular, will surely have a large effect on the foreign exchange market by the end of the decade.
Size of the Forex Market ��
1. According to BIS’s 2022 triennial survey, trading in FX markets reached an incredible $6.6 trillion per day in April of 2022.
2. The worth of the entire global forex trading market is estimated to approximately $2.4 quadrillion – in other words, around $2409 trillion. 1 BIS, “BIS Quarterly Review”, accessed June 24, 2022.
3. Global GDP in 2022 amounted to roughly 142 trillion dollars – meaning that the annual turnover of the forex market is almost 17 times larger. 2 BIS, “BIS Quarterly Review”, accessed June 27, 2022.
4. The forex market dwarfs even the largest stock exchanges in the world – for example, Nasdaq has a daily volume that averages around $200 billion.
9. Retail Forex trading – that is to say, trading that is done by individuals, accounts for only 5.5% of the entire Forex market. Large institutions are still getting the biggest slice of the cake – thankfully, it’s an enormous cake. 6 AllFXBrokers, “50 Fascinating facts about Forex”, accessed June 28, 2022.
10. Five businesses maintain a 40% share of the global Forex market, according to Euromoney magazine’s 41st annual FX survey released in 2022. 7 Euromoney, “Euromoney FX Survey 2022”, accessed June 28, 2022.
Rank Counterparty Market Share 2022 1 JPMorgan 9.81% 2 Deutsche Bank 8.41% 3 Citi 7.87% 4 XTX Markets 7.22% 5 UBS 6.63%
Forex Trader Demographics and Statistics ������
11. Forex traders are perhaps younger than you’d expect – 27% of forex traders fall into the 18-34 age group. 8 Forex School Online, “Forex Statistics & Trader Results From Around the World”, accessed June 28, 2022.
12. The 35-44 age group represents 28% of traders, while the 45-54 age group accounts for 21% of traders. Only 24% of traders are older than 55, and only 9% are older than 65. 9 Forex School Online, “Forex Statistics & Trader Results From Around the World”, accessed June 28, 2022.
Most forex traders are men in their 30s and 40s.
13. Men account for 89.1% of forex traders – meaning that only 10.9% of traders are women. 10 Compare Forex Brokers, “2022 Forex Statistics”, accessed June 28, 2022.
The great majority of forex traders have under 3 years of trading experience.
20. 70% of trades use a live account, while the other 30% are using demo accounts. 17 Forex School Online, https://www.forexschoolonline.com/forex-industry-statistics/, accessed June 28, 2022.
22. There are approximately 10 million forex traders in the world today. 19 BrokerNotes, “A Map of Forex Traders: Where Are the 9.6 Million Online Traders?”, accessed june 29, 2022.
Forex Broker Stats ��
26. The largest global forex broker is the Australian-based IC Markets, which has an average daily trading volume of $18.9 billion. 23 Wealth&Value, “Largest Forex Brokers in The World 2022”, accessed June 29, 2022.
Forex Currencies ��
32. The US Dollar is the most popular forex trading currency – with 88.3% of global trades involving the ever-reliable greenback. 29 BIS, “Triennial Central Bank Survey”, accessed June 29, 2022.
36. The British Pound Sterling accounted for 12.8% of all trades in 2022. 33 BIS, https://www.bis.org/statistics/rpfx19 fx.pdf, accessed June 29, 2022.
���� Are you a Canadian citizen? Review our leading Canadian forex platforms.
Forex Currency Pairs ��
The most commonly traded currency pairs in the Forex market are referred to as the majors. Although there is no strict definition of the term, it is generally used to refer to the 7 most popular currency pairs – all of which involve the US dollar on either the base side or the quote side.
Currency pairs that consist of major currencies and the currencies of developing or emerging economies are referred to as exotic pairs.
Forex Market by Country ��
���� Are you in Singapore? Learn about forex trading in Singapore.
67. The Forex market is a distributed electronic marketplace, and as such, it doesn’t have a central hub.
68. Forex trading is conducted 24/7 across the world, but a single day’s trading is segmented according to the regional market hours of major marketplaces. The three major segments, also commonly referred to as sessions, represent periods of peak activity. These are, in order: the Tokyo session, the London session, and the New York session.
Forex Market in the US ����
US Forex Market Currencies ��
69. The US dollar is involved in the lion’s share of transactions – 89% of trades in the US market involve the greenback, up from 87% three years ago. 8.
70. The Euro is the second most traded currency in the US market, accounting for 36% of trades, up from 31% in 2022. 55 Federal Reserve Bank of New York, “The Foreign Exchange and Interest Rate Derivatives Markets”, accessed June 30, 2022.
US Forex Market Currency Pairs ☑️.
Forex Market in the UK ����
UK Forex Market Currencies ��
75. The UK is the largest hub of the forex market, with a 43% share of the entire global turnover. In 2022, the UK’s share of the global turnover was 37%. 60 Bank of England, “BIS Triennial Survey of Foreign Exchange”, accessed June 30, 2022.
���� Are you a forex trader in the UK? See our top UK forex brokers.
UK Forex Market Currency Pairs ☑️.
85. The USD/GBP pair accounts for 13% of the average daily turnover in the UK market. Percentage-wise, not much has changed from 2022 – in fact, this pair’s share of the market hasn’t changed more than 1% in the last 10 years. 70 Bank of England, “BIS Triennial Survey of Foreign Exchange”, accessed June 30, 2022.
Forex Market in Australia ����
Australian Forex Market Currencies ��
87. The most traded currency in the Australian FX market is the US dollar – which is found at either end of 93% of trades. 72 AFXC, “Foreign Exchange Turnover Report”, accessed June 30, 2022.
���� Do you want to trade Forex in Australia? See our top Australian forex brokers report.
Australian Forex Market Currency Pairs ☑️.
91. The USD/AUD pair, the Aussie, is the most popular currency pair in the Australian market. It accounts for 47% of the average daily turnover. This amounts to $66.088 billion each day, on average. 76 AFXC, “Foreign Exchange Turnover Report”, accessed June 30, 2022.
92. The second most popular currency pair in Australia is USD/EUR – accounting for 11% of turnover, with a daily average turnover of $15.039 billion. 77 AFXC, “Foreign Exchange Turnover Report”, accessed June 30, 2022.
93. The USD/JPY pair accounts for 10% of the Australian market’s turnover. This amounts to $14.174 billion. 78 AFXC, “Foreign Exchange Turnover Report”, accessed June 30, 2022.
94. The USD/NZD pair also accounts for 10% of the market’s turnover – with a slightly lower average trading volume which amounts to $13.546 billion. 79 AFXC, “Foreign Exchange Turnover Report”, accessed June 30, 2022.
95. Currency pairs involving the US dollar and minor Asian currencies account for 6% of the market’s turnover, amounting to an average daily turnover of $8.985 billion. 80 AFXC, “Foreign Exchange Turnover Report”, accessed June 30, 2022.
Forex Market in Japan ����
Japanese Forex Market Currencies ��
97. The Japanese Yen is the most traded currency on the Japanese forex market. It is involved in 38.9% of trades, and the average daily turnover of the Yen amounts to $292.3 billion. 82 BOJ, “2022 Central Bank Survey of Foreign exchange and Derivatives Market Activity”, accessed July 1, 2022.
Japanese Forex Market Currency Pairs ☑️.
Forex Trading vs Cryptocurrency ₿
Cryptocurrency is a relatively recent phenomenon. Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past five years, you’re more than likely aware of these new digital currencies, their potential, and their wild and often unpredictable fluctuations.
Cryptocurrencies have already had an effect on the foreign exchange market, and will continue to have an ever-increasing role as the years go by. We likely won’t see cryptocurrency trading become a part of mainstream investing for another couple of years – at least until the market develops new technologies and becomes much more regulated.
But good investing practices always have one eye pointed to the future. To wrap up our list of Forex statistics, let’s take a look at what will undoubtedly be the next big thing in Forex.
106. There are currently more than 5,000 cryptocurrencies being traded. Their total market capitalization is estimated to be $201 billion. 91 Yahoo Finance, “Top 10 Cryptocurrencies by Market Capitalisation”, accessed July 1, 2022.
107. The largest and most famous cryptocurrency by far, Bitcoin, has a market capitalization of $128 billion. 92 Yahoo Finance, “Top 10 Cryptocurrencies by Market Capitalisation”, accessed July 1, 2022.
108. The second-largest cryptocurrency, Ethereum, has a market capitalization of $19.4 billion. 93 Yahoo Finance, “Top 10 Cryptocurrencies by Market Capitalisation”, accessed July 1, 2022.
109. The third-largest cryptocurrency is Ripple or XRP, with a market capitalization of $8.22 billion. 94 Yahoo Finance, “Top 10 Cryptocurrencies by Market Capitalisation”, accessed July 1, 2022.
110. There are approximately 43 million crypto traders in the world. 95 Chappuis Halder, “How Many Active Crypto Traders are There Across the Globe?”, accessed July 1, 2022.
111. There are approximately 15.3 million crypto traders in the United States. 96 Chappuis Halder, “How Many Active Crypto Traders are There Across the Globe?”, accessed July 1, 2022.
112. There are approximately 11.3 million crypto traders in Europe. 97 Chappuis Halder, “How Many Active Crypto Traders are There Across the Globe?”, accessed July 1, 2022.
113. The trading volume of cryptocurrency spot and futures markets amounted to $8.8 trillion in the first quarter of 2022. 98 Bitcoin.com, “$8.8 Trillion Traded in Cryptocurrency Spot and Futures Markets in Q1”, accessed July 1, 2022.
114. Approximately 99% of cryptocurrency trades occur on centralized exchanges. 99 CoinCasso, “10 interesting facts about cryptocurrency exchanges!”, accessed July 1, 2022.
115. The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, had an average daily trading volume of $2,852,591,354 in 2022, and currently has over 15,000,000 users. 100 Binance, “Binance 2022: Year in Review”, accessed July 1, 2022.
116. The most popular cryptocurrency trading pairs that pit cryptocurrencies against fiat currency are BTC/USD, ETH/USD, XRP/USD, and LTC/USD.
117. Cryptocurrency CFDs allow you to speculate on the price movements of cryptocurrencies without a crypto wallet.
All reviews, research, news and assessments of any kind on The Tokenist are compiled using a strict editorial review process by our editorial team. Neither our writers nor our editors receive direct compensation of any kind to publish information on tokenist.com. Our company, Tokenist Media LLC, is community supported and may receive a small commission when you purchase products or services through links on our website. Click here for a full list of our partners and an in-depth explanation on how we get paid.
Article Sources.
The Tokenist strives to bring you the most up-to-date, accurate, and reliable information from reputable sources. In an effort to maintain such a high standard, we use and share the primary sources which support our work. These can include data compiled by governments, original reporting, interviews with specialists, and more. As part of our editorial policy, we have a established a number of standards to bring you genuine, unbiased, and verifiable information.
1. BIS, "BIS Quarterly Review", accessed June 24, 2022.
2. BIS, "BIS Quarterly Review", accessed June 27, 2022.
6. AllFXBrokers, "50 Fascinating facts about Forex", accessed June 28, 2022.
7. Euromoney, "Euromoney FX Survey 2022", accessed June 28, 2022.
10. Compare Forex Brokers, "2022 Forex Statistics", accessed June 28, 2022.