| Updated: November 21, 2025Forex is the most liquid and heavily traded market on the planet, outstripping all other markets with an average trading volume of $9.6 trillion per day. Several factors contribute to this unrivaled turnover, starting with the fact that the forex market is open 24 hours a day, 5 days a week. Additionally, currency pairs are traded over the counter, which means most transactions take place on electronic networks or over the phone between brokers, banks, retail traders, and other market participants.
Interested in delving into more statistics on the world’s most liquid market and its daily turnover? Join us as we examine how the average trading volume of the global forex market has changed over the years, what the most traded forex instruments and currencies are, and which countries rank first by average daily turnover. We pulled data from authoritative sources to deliver accurate and comprehensive statistical information to readers interested in gaining deeper insights into the global forex trading landscape.
Daily Trading Volume of Global Forex Market
The Bank for International Settlements conducts comprehensive global surveys once every three years to measure the daily turnover of foreign exchange transactions worldwide. The latest survey results reveal the average daily trading volume of the global forex market hit an all-time high in April 2025, when it reached $9.6 trillion. This represents a 28.5% increase from three years back, when the figure stood at $7.5 trillion.
Average trading volume has been consistently rising during the past two decades, jumping by 674.4% between 2001 and 2025. The biggest spike occurred in 2007 when currency trading jumped by over 71.9% from the previous three years.
A decrease was only observed in 2016 when trading in the forex market averaged $5.07 trillion, down 5.4% from the previous triennial survey when it sat at around $5.36 trillion. This was the first market shrinkage in 15 years, and some analysts ascribed it to the significant drop in spot forex transactions and the rising interest in derivative trading during this period.
Average Daily Trading Volume of the Global Forex Market from 2001 to 2025 (in bn USD)
Source: Bank for International Settlements Triennial Surveys (2001-2025)
Daily Forex Trading Volume by Instrument
Spots and forex swaps consistently attract the highest trading activity out of the five main instrument groups. Foreign exchange swaps accounted for $3.986 trillion (41.5%) of the total trading volume of the global forex market in 2025, around 5% higher than the $3.798 trillion reported three years prior. All data considered, FX swap trading volume grew by 507.7% from 2001, when it stood at only $1.759 trillion. Many market participants rely on forex swaps for risk hedging and liquidity, hence their massive daily averages.
The daily volume of spot trading activities averaged $2.957 trillion in 2025, up 41.8% from the previous survey period. The figure accounts for 30.8% of the overall daily average of the market. The only decline in spot trading occurred in 2016 when average daily volumes dropped by 19.5% from $2.05 trillion to $1.65 trillion.
Outright forwards are the third most traded instrument on the forex market, seeing a 288.8% increase in trading activity from 2010 to 2025. Their average daily turnover peaked at $1.847 trillion in 2025, marking a rise of approximately 16% from three years earlier.
Options are the fourth most traded instrument on the global forex market as of 2025. They attracted $634 billion in total daily turnover, a notable 109.2% jump from 2022 and a 6.6% share of the global trading volume.
Currency swaps consistently rank as the least traded forex instrument, with a 1.8% market share and around $172 billion in daily average volume in 2025. As unimpressive as it seems, this figure marks a dramatic increase from 2001, when the trading volume of currency swaps was a negligible $7.2 billion.
Average Forex Trading Volume by Instrument (in bn USD)
Source: Bank for International Settlements Triennial Surveys (2001-2025)
Daily Trading Volume by Currency
According to the United Nations, as many as 180 currencies are currently in circulation across 195 countries on the planet, but ten of them generate the largest portion of the daily trading volume of the global foreign exchange market. The US dollar ranks as the most heavily traded currency worldwide, with a daily average surpassing $8.560 trillion. The greenback, as the world’s reserve currency is commonly known, was on one side of 89.2% of all currency transactions in April 2025, continuing its long-standing dominance in the forex market.
The euro is the currency with the second-largest daily average of $2.773 trillion for a 28.9% market share, followed by the Japanese yen ($1.610 trillion), the pound sterling ($981 billion), and the Chinese renminbi ($817 billion). Continue reading for more detailed information on these top-performing currencies.
Daily Trading Volume by Currency (in bn USD)
Source: Bank for International Settlements (2025 Triennial Survey)
US Dollar
- Daily trading volume in April 2025: $8,560 billion (↥29.72% from $6,599 billion in 2022)
- Share of global market turnover: 89.2% (↥0.8 pp from 88.4% in 2022)
- Forex swaps volume: $3,604 billion per day (↥4.25% from 2022)
- Spot trading volume: $2,577 billion per day (↥42.61% from 2022)
- Outright forwards: $1,649 billion per day (↥65.96% from 2022)
- Options: $567 billion (↥113.80% from 2022)
- Currency swaps: $163 billion (↥40.64% from 2022)
First introduced in 1792, the US dollar dethroned the pound sterling as a global reserve currency in 1944 after the Bretton Woods Agreement was signed in New Hampshire. At least $2.328 trillion was in circulation as of December 2024, according to official Federal Reserve data, and that figure jumped to $2.416 trillion by October 2025.
The USD presently serves as the national currency of 11 countries other than the United States, including Panama, Micronesia, Zimbabwe, El Salvador, and Ecuador. The USD is also the dominant currency in the 5 official territories of the United States – Guam, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands. Most of its overall daily trading volume in 2025 came from forex swaps (roughly $3.6 trillion), followed by spot trades with $2.58 trillion and outright forwards with $1.65 trillion.
Euro
- Daily trading volume in April 2025: $2,773 billion (↥21.30% from $2,286 billion in 2022)
- Share of global market turnover: 28.9% (↧1.7 pp from 30.6% in 2022)
- Forex swaps volume: $1,159 billion (↧8.23% from 2022)
- Spot trading volume: $838 billion (↥36.02% from 2022)
- Outright forwards: $488 billion (↥70.69% from 2022)
- Options: $236 billion (↥158.21% from 2022)
- Currency swaps: $53 billion (↥46.41% from 2022)
The euro is the second most traded currency on the forex market, recording daily averages of $2.77 trillion in April 2025 for an around 20.98% rise from the previous three years. The currency has been adopted by 20 member states of the European Union, including some of the world’s largest economies like Germany, France, and Italy.
It went on to establish itself as the second-largest reserve currency on a global scale, as shown in data provided by the IMF. According to the IMF’s figures, the euro accounted for almost 21.13% of the allocated forex reserves in the second quarter of 2025, when claims in the euro were valued at $2.54 trillion.
The euro stood on one side of 28.9% of all forex trades in April 2025, exhibiting a modest decrease in share from three years earlier. The largest portion of the euro’s daily trading volume comes from foreign exchange swaps and spot trading, which generated a combined turnover of roughly $2 trillion per day. Currency swaps were the worst-performing instrument for the euro as they recorded a little over $53 billion in average daily trading volume.
Japanese Yen
- Daily trading volume in April 2025: $1,610 billion (↥28.90% from $1,249 billion in 2022)
- Share of global market turnover: 16.8 % (↥0.1 pp from 16.7% in 2022)
- Forex swaps volume: $660 billion (↥18.43% from 2022)
- Spot trading volume: $577 billion (↥31.44% from 2022)
- Outright forwards: $236 billion (↥29.03% from 2022)
- Options: $102 billion (↥70.85% from 2022)
- Currency swaps: $35 billion (↥143.06% from 2022)
First introduced in 1871, the Japanese yen has established itself as a major player in the global forex sphere, with a market share close to 17%. Low inflation and interest rates fuel the increasing demand for this currency, along with its value. The yen has also cemented its position as a leading reserve currency, as it claimed a 5.57% share of all allocated forex reserves in Q2 of 2025, with over $670 billion in claims.
Unsurprisingly, the yen places third by daily trading volume after the euro and the US dollar. Overall daily turnover for this currency increased by 28.90% in 2025 and averaged $1.6 trillion, with most of this amount coming from forex swaps and spot trading, both of which rose compared to three years earlier. Options and currency swaps involving the yen also exhibited major increases in daily trading volume, jumping by 70.85% and 143.06%, respectively.
Pound Sterling
- Daily trading volume in April 2025: $981 billion (↥1.55% from $966 billion in 2022
- Share of global market turnover: 10.2% (↧2.7 pp from 12.9% in 2022)
- Forex swaps volume: $472 billion (↧15.74% from 2022)
- Spot trading volume: $269 billion (↥16.45% from 2022)
- Outright forwards: $190 billion (↥39.60% from 2022)
- Options: $34 billion (↥47.19% from 2022)
- Currency swaps: $17 billion (↧4.49% from 2022)
The pound sterling takes fourth place in terms of daily trading volume, with an average turnover of $981 billion, an around 1.55% increase from 2022. In 2025, the sterling saw increases in most instrument categories but recorded lower trading volumes for FX swaps and currency swaps. Forex swaps exhibited the steepest decline as daily averages fell by approximately 15.74%, from $560.2 billion to $472 billion.
Officially introduced in the year 760, the sterling is regarded as the oldest currency still in circulation. It serves as the national currency of the United Kingdom but is also used in several of its dependencies and overseas territories, including the Isle of Man, Guernsey, Jersey, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Tristan da Cunha, and Gibraltar. The sterling’s allocated foreign exchange reserves hit $580.23 billion in claims during 2025’s second quarter, making for a 4.83% share.
Chinese Renminbi
- Daily trading volume in April 2022: $817 billion (↥55.92% from $524 billion in 2022
- Share of global market turnover: 8.5% (↥1.5 pp from 7.0% in 2022)
- Forex swaps volume: $365 billion (↥58.28% from 2022)
- Spot trading volume: $277 billion (↥58.29% from 2022)
- Outright forwards: $87 billion (↥33.44% from 2022)
- Options: $82 billion (↥56% from 2022)
- Currency swaps: $7 billion (↥159.26% from 2022)
The Chinese renminbi (CNY) accounted for 8.5% of all forex transactions in April 2025 and generated an average of $817 billion in daily turnover, ranking as the fifth most traded currency in the world during this period. The currency is used as legal tender for domestic transactions in mainland China and is not to be mistaken with the offshore CNH traded outside the country. A total of $255.37 billion in claims resulted in the currency having a share of 2.12% in terms of allocated foreign exchange reserves in Q2 of 2025.
The CNY witnessed the most impressive growth out of the ten most traded currencies in 2025, as its daily average increased by a whopping 55.92% from $524 billion in 2022 to $817 billion in 2025. Its strong growth was driven by the increase in portfolio investment during this period.
The currency posted volume increases across all five instrument groups, with daily turnover for CNY spots and FX swaps rising by over 58% from 2022. Foreign exchange swaps in the renminbi accounted for the largest portion (44.68%) of the daily average in April 2025.
Least Traded Currencies Worldwide
The latest BIS survey indicates the Argentine peso (ARS), Bulgarian lev (BGN), and the Bahraini dinar (BHD) attracted the least trading activity in 2025. Survey results reveal these currencies recorded an average daily turnover of $1 billion for BHD and ARS each, $3 billion for RUB, and $4 billion for BGN. Combined, these currencies accounted for around 0.09% of the overall volume of the forex market in 2025.
Currencies like the Romanian leu (RON) and the Peruvian sol (PEN) did slightly better, with an average daily turnover of $10 billion and $9 billion, respectively, for a meager 0.2% share of the global market. On the positive side, both the leu and the sol witnessed increases from the previous survey when their average turnover amounted to $9 billion and $7 billion, respectively.
Several factors contribute to the low trading volumes of these currencies, including low liquidity and no demand. These are typically the national currencies of countries with smaller economies, which hurts their average turnover. We list the five underperformers in ascending order.
- The Argentine Peso (ARS) posted only $1 billion in daily average turnover for a 0.01% share of the global market, equal to 2022. In comparison, the peso stood on one side of 0.06% of all foreign exchange transactions in April 2019, when its average daily volume was $4 billion.
- The Bulgarian lev (BGN) recorded $4 billion in turnover and a 0.04% market share, twice the $2 billion reported in 2022.
- The Bahraini dinar (BHD) saw $1 billion in turnover, down 66.67% from $3 billion in 2022.
- The Peruvian sol (PEN) posted $9 billion for a 0.09% market share, up 28.57% from $7 billion in 2022.
- The Romanian leu (RON) had a turnover of $10 billion and a 0.1% market share, up 11.11% from $9 billion per day in 2022.
Daily Trading Volume by Currency Pair
Hundreds of currency pairs are traded on the forex market, but only ten of them contribute significantly to the average turnover generated each day. The ten most traded pairs account for over 70% of the overall daily trading volume of the world’s most liquid market. Six of these leading pairs involve the US dollar traded against other major currencies like the euro, the sterling, and the yen.
The EUR/USD, which pits two of the world’s strongest currencies against each other, boasts the largest share of the market’s total daily trading volume and accounts for 21.2% of all daily forex transactions. Despite its undisputed market dominance, the EUR/USD has experienced a nominal decline in share since 2022, when it accounted for 22.7% of the daily trading volume.
The USD/JPY is the pair with the second-largest share (14.3%) of the total daily turnover for a nominal increase of 0.8 percentage points since 2022. The third spot is reserved for USD/CNY with an 8.1% share, followed by USD/GBP with 7.6% and USD/CAD with 5.3%.
The greenback pitted against the Indian rupee is the tenth most traded pair, whose 1.9% share marked an increase from 2022. All data considered, half of the ten leading pairs exhibited decreases in daily volume share. The EUR/USD suffered the steepest decline, with its share falling by 1.9 percentage points from April 2022.
Leading Currency Pairs by Share in Daily Trading Volume
Source: Bank for International Settlements (Triennial Surveys) 2025, Bank for International Settlements (Triennial Surveys) 2022
The ten leading currencies featured in the chart above boast a combined daily trading volume of $7.1 trillion as of April 2025. This makes for a 29.09% increase from the same month three years earlier when the top 10 pairs attracted trading activities valued at $5.5 trillion in total.
Turning our gaze to concrete numbers, we see the euro traded against the US dollar generates the highest turnover of around $2.03 trillion per day. Daily averages for the most traded currency pair rose by approximately 19.27% from three years earlier when the trading volume for the EUR/USD stood at $1.7 trillion per day. This only makes sense, considering the pair represents the two biggest economies on a global scale, the European Union and the United States.
Daily Trading Volume of the 10 Most Traded Currency Pairs (in bn USD)
Source: Bank for International Settlements (Triennial Surveys) 2025, Bank for International Settlements (Triennial Surveys) 2022
The second place on the list of forex pairs with the highest daily trading volumes is reserved for the USD/JPY, another major whose turnover increased by 35.38% from April 2022 to April 2025. The daily trading volume of the US dollar against the yen spiked from a little over a trillion to $1.37 trillion during this period.
The USD/CNY is the third most traded pair with $781 billion in daily turnover, followed by the USD/GBP with $731 billion and the USD/CAD with $505 billion. Trading activity for the five most liquid currency pairs stood at $5.42 trillion per day in total, with foreign exchange swaps boasting the highest contribution of 44.04% ($2.38 trillion) to this amount. Here is the complete breakdown of these pairs’ daily averages for each instrument.
EUR/USD
- Daily trading volume in April 2025: $2.03 trillion (↥19.27% from $1.70 trillion in 2022)
- Share of daily trading volume: 21.2% (↧1.5 pp from 22.7% in 2022)
- Forex swap volume: $856.7 billion (↧14.48% from 2022)
- Spot trading volume: $578.2 billion (↥38% from 2022)
- Outright forwards volume: $359.7 billion (↥87.36% from 2022)
- Options volume: $192.6 billion (↥215.4% from 2022)
- Currency swaps: $46.04 billion (↥47.6% from 2022)
The EUR/USD is the most heavily traded currency pair in the world, achieving a daily trading volume of $2.03 trillion for a 19.27% increase from 2022. This enormous amount represents a healthy 21.2% of the market’s overall daily average in 2025. The most significant portion of the pair’s average daily turnover came from foreign exchange swaps, which generated around $856.7 billion in daily trading activity.
Transactions on the spot contributed around 28.44% of the pair’s total turnover, with $578.2 billion in daily trading volume, followed by outright forwards with $359.7 billion and options with $192.6 billion. Currency swaps were apparently the least popular instrument among EUR/USD traders as they accounted for a modest 2.26% share of the pair’s daily average. All in all, the world’s most liquid pair exhibited triennial increases across the majority of instruments, with options achieving the highest growth in terms of daily trading volume.
USD/JPY
- Daily trading volume in April 2025: $1.37 trillion (↥35.38% from $1.01 trillion in 2022)
- Share of daily trading volume: 14.3% (↥0.8 pp from 13.5% in 2022)
- Forex swap volume: $588.40 billion (↥23.7% from 2022)
- Spot trading volume: $480.37 billion (↥37.37% from 2022)
- Outright forwards volume: $180.01 billion (↥47.44% from 2022)
- Options volume: $89.01 billion (↥69.37% from 2022)
- Currency swaps: $34.13 billion (↥154.06% from 2022)
The USD/JPY places second in terms of daily trading volume, with a turnover of $1.37 trillion and a 14.3% market share. Market participants commonly regard it as a safe haven because it comprises two of the strongest currencies in the world, the US dollar and the Japanese yen. The second most traded pair shows a close correlation with US treasuries and hard commodities like crude oil.
It posted a 35.38% increase in trading volume from 2022, resulting from the growth in its daily averages across all USD/JPY instruments. Forex swaps accounted for 42.9% of the pair’s total daily turnover as trades involving this derivative contract hit $588.40 billion in April 2025. By comparison, currency swaps accounted for a modest 2.5% of the USD/JPY daily turnover.
USD/CNY
- Daily trading volume in April 2025: $781.32 billion (↥58.02% from $494.43 billion in 2022)
- Share of daily trading volume: 8.1% (↥1.5 pp from 6.6% in 2022)
- Forex swap volume: $355.53 billion (↥58.86% from 2022)
- Spot trading volume: $261.69 billion (↥64.26% from 2022)
- Outright forwards volume: $80.64 billion (↥36.82% from 2022)
- Options volume: $76.72 billion (↥53.98% from 2022)
- Currency swaps: $6.75 billion (↥164.38% from 2022)
The USD/CNY continues to gain traction among forex market participants as it climbed to the third place from its previous position as the fourth most traded currency. The pair measures price movements of the US dollar against the onshore renminbi used for transactions across mainland China. It is among the top currency pairs in terms of daily trading volume, with an average inching close to half a trillion.
Its daily turnover has risen significantly since 2019, when the pair recorded $270 billion in daily trading volume. The USD/CNY went on to become the fastest-growing pair over the past six years, with its turnover reaching $494.43 in 2022 and climbing a further 58.02% to $781.32 in 2025. It saw substantial increases across all five instrument groups this year. Currency swaps outperformed all other product types growth-wise as their daily trading volume soared by a whopping 164.38% during this period.
USD/GBP
- Daily trading volume in April 2025: $731.09 billion (↥2.46% from $713.5 billion in 2022)
- Share of daily trading volume: 7.6% (↧1.9 pp from 9.5% in 2022)
- Forex swap volume: $362.78 billion (↧17.3% from 2022)
- Spot trading volume: $189.6 billion (↥19.48% from 2022)
- Outright forwards volume: $142.44 billion (↥64.28% from 2022)
- Options volume: $20.83 billion (↥46.92% from 2022)
- Currency swaps: $15.42 billion (↥0.76% from 2022)
The USD/GBP placed fourth with a daily trading volume averaging $731.09 billion for a 2.46% increase from 2022. Traders worldwide favor this pair for its high liquidity, narrower spreads, and volatility. Commonly referred to as “trading the cable”, trading the USD/GBP accounted for 7.6% of the overall daily turnover of the forex market in 2025. The pair exhibits a strong negative correlation with the USD/CHF but correlates positively with the top-performing EUR/USD.
Foreign exchange swaps contributed nearly 50% to the pair’s daily trading volume, recording over $362.78 billion in turnover. However, the instrument saw a 17.3% decrease from three years earlier when it generated $438.63 billion in daily trading volume. Options and outright forwards both showed significant increases in daily turnover, climbing by 46.92% and 64.28%, respectively.
USD/CAD
- Daily trading volume in April 2025: $505.13 billion (↥23.18% from $410 billion in 2022)
- Share of daily trading volume: 5.3% (↧0.2 pp from 5.5% in 2022)
- Forex swap volume: $224.77 billion (↧5.35% from 2022)
- Spot trading volume: $141.62 billion (↥29.49% from 2022)
- Outright forwards volume: $92.86 billion (↥113.34% from 2022)
- Options volume: $23.01 billion (↥70.83% from 2022)
- Currency swaps: $22.87 billion (↥267.42% from 2022)
The USD/CAD sets the US and Canadian dollars against each other and ranks as the fifth most traded currency pair in the world, with an average daily volume hitting $505.13 billion in 2025, up by just over 23% from the previous BIS survey period.
Forex swaps in USD/CAD made up 44.5% of the pair’s total market share, followed by spots (28%) and outright forwards (18.38%). FX swaps, meanwhile, dipped by 5.35% from 2022’s $237.49 billion.
Nicknamed the “loonie” after the common loon pictured on the CA$1 coin, the pair shows a remarkable correlation with the EUR/USD and commodities like zinc and crude oil.
Countries with the Highest Daily Trading Volumes
It is anything but surprising that three of the world’s largest economies (the UK, the US, and Japan) rank among the top 5 countries with the most significant daily trading volumes. The United Kingdom captured the first place with $4.745 trillion. The United States, whose average daily turnover stands at $2.335 trillion as of April 2025, ranks second.
Singapore places third with $1.485 trillion, outstripping Hong Kong and Japan, whose over-the-counter forex trading activity amounts to $883.039 billion and $440.231 billion, respectively. Below, we offer you a more detailed breakdown of these countries’ performance across different instruments, along with the latest volume figures they have released. Malta, Lithuania, Slovakia, Greece, and Portugal were the countries with the lowest net-gross over-the-counter forex turnover per day, each reporting trading volumes under $5 billion.
Top 5 Countries with Largest Daily Trading Volumes in 2025 (in bn USD)
Source: Bank for International Settlements
Forex swaps outperformed other financial instruments in all five countries and reported the largest trading volumes in April 2025. The United Kingdom posted the most substantial daily average of $1.771 trillion, nearly triple the amount reported by the United States ($593.56 billion).
Spot transactions placed second, with Japan recording the lowest daily average of around $125.39 billion. Outright forwards were the third most traded forex instrument in the top-performing countries, followed by options and currency swaps, whose combined trading volume represented a modest 8.82% of the five countries’ total turnover.
| Daily Trading Volumes by Instrument in Top 5 Countries with Largest FX Markets, April 2025 (in bn USD) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country | FX Swaps | Spot Transactions | Outright Forwards | Options | Currency Swaps | Total Daily Volume |
| UK | 1772.909 | 1420.033 | 1081.183 | 374.001 | 97.319 | 4745.445 |
| USA | 593.564 | 1021.493 | 1081.183 | 147.625 | 25.538 | 2334.7 |
| Singapore | 756.282 | 370.227 | 207.584 | 135.480 | 15.651 | 1485.224 |
| Hong Kong | 563.699 | 172.717 | 91.121 | 50.324 | 5.177 | 883.039 |
| Japan | 244.735 | 125.391 | 48.696 | 12.360 | 9.048 | 440.231 |
Apart from BIS, each country’s major financial institutions conduct separate surveys on the local forex market’s trading volume. You can observe their findings for April 2025 in the following section.
Daily Trading Volume of the UK Forex Market
The United Kingdom is home to a thriving foreign exchange market whose daily turnover averaged $4.045 trillion in April 2025, as revealed by the results of a semi-annual survey conducted by the Foreign Exchange Joint Standing Committee (FXJSC). This impressive figure is hardly surprising, considering the country’s capital, London, dethroned New York from its position as the world’s largest financial center just a year prior, following an earlier 2023 report by the Bank of England that showed a daily forex trading volume of $3.35 trillion, up 14% from October 2023.
- Spot jumped by 42% in April 2025
April 2025 saw FX turnover climb 20% year-over-year. FX swaps dominated, seeing as trading activity involving this instrument hit $1.563 trillion across the 25 financial institutions that participated in the semi-annual survey.
Spot, meanwhile, managed to rank second with a daily average of $1.293 trillion. This figure marked a significant leap of 42% from the trading volume reported in the October 2024 survey.
These instruments were followed by outright forwards ($553 billion) and options with $350 billion, 52% higher than what was observed in October 2024. Non-deliverable forwards and currency swaps were among the least traded instruments in the UK during this period. The former posted a daily turnover of $223 billion (higher than October 2024’s $230 billion), while the latter remained almost unchanged since the last survey and rose just $1 billion to $62 billion.
UK Daily Trading Turnover per Instrument in April 2025 (in bn USD)
Sources: Foreign Exchange Joint Standing Committee, Bank of England
- Most Traded Pairs in the UK: EUR/USD, USD/JPY, and GBP/USD
The EUR/USD, USD/JPY, and GBP/USD retain their dominant position as the three most traded forex pairs in the country. The euro against the dollar ranked first with a turnover exceeding $1 trillion, representing 25% of the total daily averages for April 2025. Most of the leading pair’s turnover came from forex swap transactions ($433.344 billion) and spots ($288.562 billion), whose combined trading activity amounted to well over half a trillion.
The title of the second most traded currency pair in the UK goes to the USD/JPY, with a 13.8% market share and an average turnover per day of $560.2 billion. Forex swaps also reign supreme when it comes to trading the greenback against the yen, as the daily volume hit $217.695 billion and made up almost 40% of all USD/JPY transactions.
Nicknamed the “Cable,” the GBP/USD attracted daily trading activities valued at $415.2 billion, 10.3% of the overall volume during this period. This placed the pair in the third spot.
All in all, the three leading currency pairs’ results were an improvement over the previous semi-annual survey in October 2024. The EUR/USD, for instance, attracted a daily volume of $797.5 billion at the time, while the USD/JPY and GBP/USD generated a turnover of $401.5 and $380.9 billion, respectively.
Daily Turnover of Top 3 Most Traded Pairs in the UK for April 2025 (in bn USD)
Source: Foreign Exchange Joint Standing Committee, Bank of England
Daily Trading Volume of the US Forex Market
The forex market in the United States achieved the second-highest daily turnover in October 2024 when the volume of foreign exchange transactions averaged $1.196 trillion. The country’s high ranking comes as no surprise, considering the US has one of the largest economies in the world, valued at 30.51 trillion in 2025, according to the International Monetary Fund.
- The US with $1.3777 trillion in Daily Turnover in April 2025
New York is a major financial hub, and its forex trading session ranks second in liquidity, further contributing to the country’s outstanding performance in terms of daily forex turnover. The latest semi-annual survey conducted by the Foreign Exchange Committee (FXC) reveals the country retains its second place, reporting a daily trading volume of $1.3777 trillion in April 2025 for a 15.2% increase year-over-year.
The total monthly turnover surpassed $30 trillion during this period. All instrument and counterparty types exhibited increases in volumes compared to the same month a year earlier.
Trading activities involving spots made up nearly half of the US market’s overall daily turnover with $602.29 billion, followed by forex swaps ($412.8 billion), outright forwards ($272 billion), and over-the-counter options ($90.65 billion).
Spot trading saw a 22.3% increase from October 2024’s figure, and the volume of forward transactions also edged higher by 23.7%. Forex swaps and options, on the other hand, saw lower gains, with the former rising by 12.1%, while the latter climbed 11%.
US Daily Forex Turnover by Instrument in April 2025 (in bn USD)
Source: Foreign Exchange Committee Semi-Annual Survey, Federal Reserve Bank of New York
- Most Traded Pairs in the US: EUR/USD, USD/JPY, USD/CAD
The EUR/USD ranked as the most traded currency pair in the US for April 2025 when it recorded $296.4 billion in total turnover, with spot transactions making up 46% of this amount.
The USD/JPY posted the second-highest daily trading volume of $185.59 billion overall, with $92.7 billion from spots, $58.7 billion from forex swaps, $22.6 billion from forwards, and $11.5 billion from options.
The USD/CAD came in third with $154.37 billion in total trading volume on a daily basis. Roughly 46% of the said figure was attributed to FX swaps ($71.5 billion). High daily volumes for the loonie are no coincidence, given the close trading relationship between Canada and the US.
The above data showcases how the three leading pairs continue to dominate the local forex market, as they also topped the rankings of the reports published in 2024. In the October 2024 survey, the EUR/USD came in first with a daily volume of $239.8 billion on average, while the USD/CAD stood in second place ($157.4 billion) and USD/JPY ranked third ($132.36 billion).
Daily Turnover of Top 3 Most Traded Pairs in the US, April 2025 (in bn USD)
Source: Foreign Exchange Committee Semi-Annual Survey, Federal Reserve Bank of New York
Daily Trading Volume of Singapore Forex Market
The semi-annual study carried out by the Singapore Foreign Exchange Market Committee (SFXMC) reveals that the daily trading volume of derivative and non-derivative forex transactions amounted to $1.273 trillion in April 2025, or $137 billion (12%) more than what the country reported in October 2024.
- Non-derivatives took an about 90% share of Singapore’s daily turnover in April 2025
Derivatives like options and currency swaps accounted for $133.3 billion of the total daily turnover, representing a 10.5% share of the local forex market compared to 90% for non-derivatives. April 2025’s traditional forex results correspond to a 14.2% increase year-over-year, while the overall FX market grew by 17.3%.
Forex swaps took a 48.8% share of the market, up 15% from $524.5 billion in October 2024. Outright forwards, meanwhile, suffered a decline of 23.2%. Spot transactions were the second most traded instrument featured in the April 2025 survey ($329.1 billion), followed by outward forwards ($189.8 billion). The latter suffered a 23.2% decline from the $247.1 billion reported last October.
Singapore Daily Forex Turnover in April 2025, by Instrument (in bn USD)
Source: Singapore Forex Exchange Market Committee (SFEMC) Semi-Annual Survey
- Most Traded Pairs in Singapore: USD/JPY, USD/RMB, AUD/USD
Singapore’s forex market committee provides no detailed information about specific daily averages for pairs in its semi-annual survey. Data on monthly trading volumes is available instead, indicating that the USD/JPY was the most traded currency pair in April 2025 when its monthly turnover hit $5.7 trillion. As many as 61.3% of this total came from forex swaps, which remain the most popular vehicle for forex trading in Singapore. It should also be noted that the pair’s performance has been consistent, seeing as it ranked first in the October 2024 ($6 trillion) and April 2024 ($5.3 trillion) surveys.
The island country ranks among China’s top trading partners and has become a major regional hub for renminbi transactions in recent years. Given all this, it is anything but shocking that the USD/RMB places second in monthly trading volume with $3.72 trillion in total as of April 2025. Forex swaps were the most popular instrument among USD/RMB traders in Singapore and generated $1.6 trillion during said month. The AUD/USD secured the third position with $2.2 trillion in monthly total, $1.5 trillion of which came from foreign exchange swaps.
Monthly Turnover of Top 3 Most Traded Pairs in Singapore in April 2025, by Instrument (in bn USD)
Daily Trading Volume of Hong Kong Forex Market
Hong Kong retains its position as the fourth largest forex market and posted a daily turnover averaging $$883.039 billion as of April 2025, according to BIS. This figure indicates a notable improvement from the last triennial survey..
- Hong Kong Turnover Sees 27.17% Increase in April 2025
Daily average turnover grew to $883.039 billion, a 27.17% jump from April 2022 when Hong Kong reported an average of $694.359 billion per day. Similar to other top-performing countries, China’s special administrative region saw the most trading activity in forex swaps, which made up 63.84% ($563.699 billion) of the overall daily turnover for April 2025. Currency swaps performed very poorly during this month, with a daily turnover of $5.177 billion cementing currency swaps’ spot as the least traded instrument.
Hong Kong Daily Forex Turnover in April 2025, by Instrument (in bn USD)
Source: Bank for International Settlements Triennial Survey April 2025
- Most Traded Currency Pairs in Hong Kong: USD/CNY, USD/HKD, USD/JPY
The USD/CNY outperformed all currency pairs in terms of daily averages according to BIS estimates, followed by the USD/HKD and USD/JPY. The top-performing pair generated $305.471 billion in daily transaction volume in April 2025, most of which came from forex swap transactions.
The USD/HKD ranks as the second most heavily traded forex pair in the Hong Kong market with $184.627 billion in average daily turnover, up 95.5% from the same month three years earlier when trading volume averaged $94.441 billion. The USD/JPY places third with $84.924 billion and a 9.62% market share.
Overall, the three top-performing pairs all saw increases from the previous triennial survey.
Daily Turnover of Top 3 Most Traded Pairs in Hong Kong in April 2025 (in bn USD)
Source:Bank for International Settlements Triennial Survey April 2025
Daily Trading Volume of Japan Forex Market
Japan is home to one of the largest forex markets on a global scale, which makes perfect sense, considering Tokyo is a major financial hub. The yen understandably ranks among the most traded currencies in the world, standing on one side of 16.7% of all forex transactions that took place in 2022. The Land of the Rising Sun placed third in terms of daily turnover in April 2022, with an average transaction volume of $1,253 billion per day.
- Tokyo’s Forex Market Grew by 14.6% in April 2025
The latest figures published by the Tokyo Foreign Exchange Market Committee (TFEMC) tell us daily averages for the local forex market stood at $462.1 billion in April 2025. This figure indicates that aggregate market turnover jumped by 14.6% compared to the results of the previous semi-annual survey conducted in October 2024.
Daily trading volumes also edged 2.8% higher compared to April 2024, when turnover averaged $449.5 billion per day. Forex swap transactions accounted for the largest share (55.7%) of the market with $257.2 billion, outperforming spots ($134.1 billion), currency swaps ($9.4 billion), options ($12.3 billion), and forwards ($49.1 billion) by a wide margin.
Japan Daily Forex Turnover in April 2025, by Instrument (in bn USD)
Source: Tokyo Foreign Exchange Market Committee Semi-Annual Survey
- Most Traded Currency Pairs in Japan: USD/JPY, EUR/JPY, EUR/USD
The USD/JPY attracted the most trading activity in Japan as of April 2025, generating $284.7 billion in average turnover per day, according to the semi-annual survey conducted in the country. This strong performance reflected a 13.6 % jump from October 2024, reversing a decline the pair suffered during that survey period. Increases were observed in all instruments involving the USD/JPY pair bar.
The EUR/USD and EUR/JPY placed second and third. The former enjoyed daily averages of $35.6 billion, while the latter’s turnover stood at $27.7 billion. Moreover, the EUR/USD enjoyed a notable 51% climb from the previous survey’s figures. Most of these pairs’ volume was concentrated in FX swap transactions.
Daily Turnover of Top 3 Most Traded Pairs in Japan in April 2025 (in bn USD)
Source: Tokyo Foreign Exchange Market Committee Semi-Annual Survey