How Big Is the Forex Market? Daily Turnover From 2001 to 2025

The foreign exchange market turned over an average of $9.6 trillion a day in April 2025, according to the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), up 28% from $7.5 trillion in 2022. That is about eight times the $1.2 trillion recorded in 2001.

The figures come from the BIS Triennial Central Bank Survey, in which central banks in more than 50 countries collect data from the banks and dealers in their markets every three years.

The survey is the most reliable measure of the market's size, and it reveals a lot about how forex works: which currencies dominate, which instruments are traded, and which cities handle the trades.

How the survey works

Every three years, in April, central banks ask the banks and dealers in their country to report all their foreign exchange trades for the month. The BIS in Basel combines the reports and adjusts for double counting, because a trade between two reporting banks would otherwise be counted twice. Its first edition was taken in 1989; from 1998 onwards it has also covered over-the-counter interest rate derivatives.

April is chosen so each survey covers the same month, making the numbers comparable. The headline figure is the average daily turnover across that month.

Growth since 2001

Three forces drove most of the growth. Electronic trading made it far cheaper and faster to trade, so banks, funds and algorithms trade more often. Globalisation meant more companies and investors needed foreign currency. And financial firms other than banks, such as hedge funds, asset managers and electronic market makers, became much bigger participants.

The only dip came in 2016, when turnover fell to $5.1 trillion after a record $5.4 trillion in 2013. Lower volatility, tighter regulation after the financial crisis and a stronger dollar, which reduced the dollar value of trades in other currencies, all played a part.

What is traded

Most people think of forex as swapping one currency for another at today's price, called spot. In fact the largest category is FX swaps, which combine a spot trade with a reverse forward trade and are used mostly by banks and companies to manage funding and cash flows. By 2025 FX swaps averaged about $4 trillion a day. Spot turnover rose 42% from 2022 and outright forwards, used for hedging future payments, rose 60%.

Which currencies dominate

The US dollar was involved in 89% of all trades in 2025, confirming its role as the hub of the market. Next come the euro, yen and pound, and Chinese yuan trading has grown steadily over the past decade. Because every trade involves two currencies, the shares across all currencies add up to 200%. Our guide to the major currency pairs explains why most retail trading focuses on a handful of dollar pairs.

Where forex is traded

Forex has no central exchange, but trading concentrates in a few financial centres. London has long been the largest: in the 2022 survey, the UK accounted for about 38% of global turnover and the US about 19%, with Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan the next biggest. London's position comes from its time zone, which overlaps with both Asian and American hours, and from decades of banking infrastructure.

How much of it is retail?

The BIS survey does not report retail trading as a separate headline, and estimates vary. What is clear is that individual traders are a small share of total turnover. The bulk of the market is trades between dealer banks, trades with other financial institutions such as hedge funds, pension funds and asset managers, and trades with non-financial companies paying for imports or bringing home profits.

Retail trading still matters in some places. Japan has one of the largest retail forex markets in the world, and individual traders there can influence the yen in quiet periods. Retail flows in emerging markets can also be significant relative to local turnover. But when you trade EUR/USD from your phone, you are a very small participant in a market dominated by institutions.

Why turnover keeps rising

The 2025 jump of 28% was driven partly by volatility. In the weeks around April 2025, sudden changes to US trade tariffs caused big swings in currencies, and volatile markets generate more trading as investors hedge and reposition. Growth in trading by non-bank financial firms, the spread of electronic platforms and rising activity in emerging-market currencies all added to the total.

Turnover also depends on exchange rates. Because the figures are in US dollars, a weaker dollar makes trades in other currencies count for more, and a stronger dollar makes them count for less. The BIS publishes figures at constant exchange rates to separate real growth from this valuation effect.

What the numbers mean for traders

• Liquidity is concentrated. Most volume is in a few dollar pairs during London and New York hours, which is when spreads are tightest.
• Retail is a small slice. Banks, funds and companies dominate turnover; retail traders follow the flows rather than create them.
• Size does not mean safety. Even the largest market can gap on a policy surprise, as the Swiss franc showed in 2015.
• Watch where the money trades. Session overlaps bring the most liquidity and often the largest moves.

Frequently asked

Related reading

• The history of forex
• The major currency pairs
• Forex market sessions
• What is forex trading?