Every three years, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in Basel, Switzerland, surveys the world’s central banks to measure trading activity in the foreign exchange markets. The data gathered in each Survey are published in a document titled Triennial Central Bank Survey. These triennial surveys have been conducted since 1986. This year is a Triennial Survey year.
Each Survey is published in two parts: a September report, and a December report.
In each Triennial Central Bank Survey:
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the September report details average daily turnover in the foreign exchange (FX) market. FX activity around the world is monitored over a 30-day period (during the month of April) in the survey year. The data gathered during this period are used to compute daily averages in various categories of turnover.
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the December report details amounts outstanding in the OTC derivatives markets. This is a “snapshot” of the FX derivatives market, taken at one point in time (on June 30) in the survey year.
The data of interest to us, as retail forex traders, are the turnover data gathered in April and published in the September report. Turnover is the term used by the BIS to denote transaction volume. This volume is measured and reported in several ways: turnover in specific currencies, turnover in specific currency pairs, turnover among specific counterparties, turnover by country, and turnover in the overall (world) FX market.
The September portion of the 2025 Triennial Central Bank Survey has now been released, giving us our first look in three years at the size and activity of the overall (worldwide) foreign exhange market.
Here are Highlights from that report (emphasis added):
• Trading in OTC FX markets reached $9.6 trillion per day in April 2025 (“net-net” basis,all FX instruments), up 28% from $7.5 trillion three years earlier.
• Turnover of FX spot was 31% of global turnover, up from 28% in 2022. Turnover of outright forwards increased from 15% of global turnover in 2022, to 19% in 2025. Turnover of FX options more than doubled. Turnover of FX swaps grew modestly, resulting in a drop in their share to 42% (from 51% in 2022).
• The US dollar continued to dominate global FX markets, being on one side of 89.2% of all trades, up from 88.4% in 2022. The share of the euro fell to 28.9% (from 30.6%) and that of the Japanese yen was virtually unchanged at 16.8%. The share of sterling declined to 10.2% (from 12.9%). The shares of the Chinese renminbi and the Swiss franc rose to 8.5% and 6.4%, respectively.
• Inter-dealer trading accounted for 46% of global turnover (almost unchanged from 47% in 2022). The share of trading with “other financial institutions” was 50% (up from 47%). At $4.8 trillion, turnover with other financial institutions was 35% higher than in 2022, mostly driven by 72% higher trading of outright forwards and a 50% increase in spot transactions with this counterparty group.
• Sales desks in the top four jurisdictions – the United Kingdom, the United States, Singapore and Hong Kong SAR – accounted for 75% of total FX trading (“net-gross” basis). Singapore gained market share, reaching 11.8% of the total (up from 9.5% in 2022).
For a deeper dive into the BIS 2025 Triennial Central Bank Survey, click this LINK