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The Brazilian real's −7.4% week
The Brazilian real made the largest one-week move in the index, −7.4% against the dollar in the week to 30 October 2026, the week after Brazil's presidential runoff on 25 October.
See the full index →Currency Volatility
17 currencies ranked by how much they swung against the US dollar over the past 52 weeks, with their 12-month change and biggest weekly move. Built from European Central Bank reference rates.
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Key findings
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The Brazilian real was the most volatile of 17 currencies against the US dollar over the 52 weeks to 30 October 2026, with annualised volatility of 11.6%.
Source: FX Recap Currency Volatility Index, ECB reference ratesThe Brazilian real made the largest one-week move in the index: −7.4% against the dollar in the week to 30 October 2026.
Source: FX Recap Currency Volatility Index, ECB reference ratesThe Turkish lira lost the most against the dollar, −15.8% over 12 months, even though its volatility was only 0.9%: it fell in small, steady steps.
Source: FX Recap Currency Volatility Index, ECB reference ratesThe Australian dollar gained the most against the dollar, +7.4% over 12 months.
Source: FX Recap Currency Volatility Index, ECB reference ratesThe Hong Kong dollar, which is pegged to the US dollar, was the least volatile at 0.4%.
Source: FX Recap Currency Volatility Index, ECB reference rates
The index
17 currencies against the US dollar
Ranked by annualised volatility over the 52 weeks to 30 October 2026. A positive change means the currency strengthened against the dollar.
| # | Currency | Volatility | Per USD, 31 October 2025 | Per USD, 30 October 2026 | 12-month change | Largest weekly move |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brazilian real (BRL) | 11.6% | 5.38091 | 5.43251 | −0.9% | −7.4% week to 30 October 2026 |
| 2 | South African rand (ZAR) | 10.1% | 17.3491 | 16.6895 | +4% | −4.8% week to 6 March 2026 |
| 3 | South Korean won (KRW) | 9.6% | 1,428.14 | 1,335.27 | +7% | −3.3% week to 18 September 2026 |
| 4 | Mexican peso (MXN) | 8.8% | 18.5465 | 18.9077 | −1.9% | −3.5% week to 2 October 2026 |
| 5 | Australian dollar (AUD) | 7.7% | 1.52951 | 1.42356 | +7.4% | +2.9% week to 10 April 2026 |
| 6 | Japanese yen (JPY) | 7.5% | 154.18 | 157.25 | −2% | +2.6% week to 30 January 2026 |
| 7 | Thai baht (THB) | 6.6% | 32.3247 | 33.7299 | −4.2% | −2.8% week to 6 March 2026 |
| 8 | Philippine peso (PHP) | 5.7% | 58.7113 | 63.6797 | −7.8% | −2.7% week to 6 March 2026 |
| 9 | Malaysian ringgit (MYR) | 5.7% | 4.18799 | 4.05702 | +3.2% | −1.9% week to 19 June 2026 |
| 10 | Indian rupee (INR) | 5.6% | 88.7199 | 94.9552 | −6.6% | +1.8% week to 16 October 2026 |
| 11 | British pound (GBP) | 5.5% | 0.763026 | 0.74633 | +2.2% | −1.9% week to 15 May 2026 |
| 12 | Euro (EUR) | 5.5% | 0.865501 | 0.895095 | −3.3% | −2.1% week to 6 March 2026 |
| 13 | Indonesian rupiah (IDR) | 4.2% | 16,661.9 | 18,148.2 | −8.2% | +1.6% week to 12 June 2026 |
| 14 | Singapore dollar (SGD) | 3.3% | 1.30163 | 1.27837 | +1.8% | −1.2% week to 6 March 2026 |
| 15 | Chinese yuan (CNY) | 1.9% | 7.11615 | 6.65288 | +7% | +1% week to 10 April 2026 |
| 16 | Turkish lira (TRY) | 0.9% | 42.0488 | 49.9476 | −15.8% | −0.7% week to 16 October 2026 |
| 17 | Hong Kong dollar (HKD) | 0.4% | 7.77107 | 7.84569 | −1% | −0.2% week to 2 January 2026 |
How to read it
Volatility is not the same as a fall
Volatility measures how far a currency swings from week to week, not its direction. The Turkish lira lost 15.8% against the dollar in a year yet ranks near the bottom at 0.9%, because it fell by similar small amounts every week. A trader holding lira lost value steadily; one holding the Brazilian real or the South African rand faced sudden jumps.
The biggest single week was Brazil's. The real fell in the week after the presidential runoff on 25 October, in which Brazil's electoral court declared Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva re-elected with 51.79% of valid votes.
Managed and pegged currencies sit at the bottom: the Hong Kong dollar, which is pegged to the US dollar, and the Chinese yuan. Free-floating emerging currencies, the real, the rand and the won, sit near the top.
For a leveraged trader, a bigger weekly swing means a larger margin buffer. Under a 1:30 cap a 3.33% move against a position wipes out its margin; the Brazilian real moved 7.4% in a single week. See forex leverage limits by country.
Method
How we calculate it
| Rates | ECB euro foreign exchange reference rates, crossed to the US dollar (currency per EUR ÷ USD per EUR). The last ECB fix on or before each Friday. |
| Weekly change | ln(rate this Friday ÷ rate last Friday), in units of the currency per US dollar |
| Volatility | Standard deviation of the 52 weekly changes × √52 |
| 12-month change | Rate on 31 October 2025 ÷ rate on 30 October 2026 − 1 (positive = the currency strengthened) |
| Coverage | Currencies the ECB publishes a reference rate for. The naira, Pakistani rupee, Kenyan shilling and others are not included. |
Source: ECB Data Portal, series EXR.D.*.EUR.SP00.A. Calculated in code; all figures are in the free CSV.
Cite this page
Free to use, including commercially, with a credit to FX Recap and a link to this page (CC BY 4.0).
FX Recap, "Currency Volatility Index", data to 30 October 2026, https://fxrecap.com/currency-volatility-indexMedia enquiries
Jowel RanaCo-Founder & Forex Trader, FX Recap[email protected] · comment, data and charts on request
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FAQs
Currency volatility: common questions
Which currency was the most volatile against the dollar?
Of the 17 currencies in our index, the Brazilian real, with annualised volatility of 11.6% over the 52 weeks to 30 October 2026, followed by the South African rand (10.1%).
Which currency lost the most against the dollar?
The Turkish lira, −15.8% over 12 months, followed by the Indonesian rupiah.
What does currency volatility measure?
How much a currency's exchange rate swings from week to week, not which way it moves. We take the standard deviation of 52 weekly log changes and multiply it by the square root of 52.
Where do the exchange rates come from?
From the European Central Bank's euro foreign exchange reference rates, crossed to the US dollar. We use the last ECB fix on or before each Friday.
Risk warning. Forex and CFD trading carries a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Past volatility does not predict future moves. This page is information, not financial advice.