See title, thanks in advance.
Most people are going to say there are 28 important pairs rather than 30, though not many traders trade all 28 in equal proportions -
AUD/CAD
AUD/CHF
AUD/JPY
AUD/NZD
AUD/USD
CAD/CHF
CAD/JPY
CHF/JPY
EUR/AUD
EUR/CAD
EUR/CHF
EUR/GBP
EUR/JPY
EUR/NZD
EUR/USD
GBP/AUD
GBP/CAD
GBP/CHF
GBP/JPY
GBP/NZD
GBP/USD
NZD/CAD
NZD/CHF
NZD/JPY
NZD/USD
USD/CAD
USD/CHF
USD/JPY
You will see the list comprises the 8 major global currencies and each currency is seen in 7 pairs.
I have got no idea why all the EUR pairs are EUR-based, ad only 3 of the USD, 6 of the GBP etc. but that’s the way it is.
The most heavily traded pairs are, in order -
EUR/USD
USD/JPY
GBP/USD
USD/CHF
though other pairs will see increases in trading activity at times, e.g. probably EUR/GBP through the Brexit affair.
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@tommor thanks for the list, I’m also interested popular minor and exotic currencies that covers emerging markets, ASEAN and some economically rising African and South American nations.
the best ones are the 28 major and minor pairs however for trading them profitably, besides having a profitable strategy in general, you should know the character of all of them to some extent.
for example, some of them move more than others within a day. some are more volatile and as a result get larger spreads. some of them such as major pairs are more liquid so they are better for example for scalping.
maybe the question should be more specific. for example, what are the best pairs for scalping, swing trading, trading on news, and etc.
anyway, I think this is a good post for knowing them better:
Tommor is correct regarding the 28 pairs he listed. Those 28 pairs comprise all of the possible pairings of the 8 so-called “major currencies”, and those 28 pairs represent the basic menu for most traders.
Below is some additional information which you might find useful.
I think this is slightly incorrect.
Here are the 8 most heavily traded currency pairs. Note that the traditional 8 “majors” are represented here, plus the (offshore traded) Chinese yuan (CNY). At some point, the CNY will have to be recognized as a “major”.
EUR/USD – 24.0% of daily forex volume
USD/JPY – 13.2%
GBP/USD – 9.6%
AUD/USD – 5.4%
USD/CAD – 4.4%
USD/CNY – 4.1%
USD/CHF – 3.5%
NZD/USD – 1.6%
Total = 65.8% of daily forex volume accounted for
by these 8 currency pairs (comprised of 9 currencies)
Source: Bank for International Settlements (BIS) 2019 Triennial Central Bank Survey
Graph 1, page 5, Foreign exchange market turnover by currency and currency pairs
Here are the 15 most heavily traded individual currencies. (See the list of currency abbreviations, below.)
USD – 88.3% of daily forex volume
EUR – 32.3%
JPY – 16.8%
GBP – 12.8%
AUD – 6.8%
CAD – 5.0%
CHF – 5.0%
CNY – 4.3%
HKD – 3.5%
NZD – 2.1%
SEK – 2.0%
KRW – 2.0%
SGD – 1.8%
NOK – 1.8%
MXN – 1.7%
Total = 186.2% out of 200% for all worldwide currency transactions
(Note: Two currencies are involved in every transaction, making
the overall total 200%, not 100%)
Regarding the Currency Hierarchy, here is a copy-and-paste from a PREVIOUS POST:
By international agreement, “normal” currency pairs are determined by the following hierarchy:
EUR, GBP, AUD, NZD, USD, CAD, CHF, JPY, … etc, and on down through the list of minor and exotic currencies.
Here’s how this hierarchy is applied:
-
the EUR is the base currency in all EUR-pairs
-
the GBP is the base currency in all GBP-pairs, except EUR/GBP
-
the AUD is the base currency in all AUD-pairs, except EUR/AUD and GBP/AUD
-
the NZD is the base currency in all NZD-pairs, except EUR/NZD, GBP/NZD and AUD/NZD
-
the USD is the base currency in all USD-pairs, except EUR/USD, GBP/USD, AUD/USD and NZD/USD
-
…etc.
Currency symbols and currency names:
(Notes: As mentioned above, the CNY (Chinese renminbi, or yuan) should be promoted to the status of “major”, in my opinion. Also, the lists of “minor” currencies and “exotic” currencies given below are my lists, and do not represent universally-accepted classifications.)
Major currencies
USD - U.S. dollar
EUR - euro (European single currency)
JPY - Japanese yen
GBP - British pound sterling
AUD - Australian dollar
CAD - Canadian dollar
CHF - Swiss franc
NZD - New Zealand dollar
Minor currencies
CNY - Chinese yuan (renminbi) – should be moved up to the “major” listing
SEK - Swedish krona
MXN - Mexican peso
SGD - Singapore dollar
HKD - Hong Kong dollar
NOK - Norwegian krone
KRW - Korean won
TRY - Turkish lira
INR - Indian rupee
RUB - Russian rouble
BRL - Brazilian real
ZAR - South African rand
DKK - Danish krone
Exotic currencies
PLN - Polish zloty
TWD - Taiwan new dollar
THB - Thai baht
MYR - Malaysian ringgit
HUF - Hungarian forint
CZK - Czech koruna
ILS - Israeli new shekel
SAR - Saudi Arabian riyal
CLP - Chilean peso
IDR - Indonesian rupiah
COP - Colombian peso
PHP - Philippine peso
RON - Romanian new leu
PEN - Peruvian nuevo sol
EDIT –
The list of exotic currencies (above) is far from complete. More than 100 additional “exotic” currencies exist and could be added to that list.
Most sources state that there are about 168 individual currencies circulating in the world today.
168 individual currencies could be combined to form 14,028 different currency pairs.
Here is the formula for pairing x-number of currencies — Number of pairs = (x-1)*(x/2)
Examples:
-
for 8 currencies, Number of pairs = 7*4 = 28 pairs
-
for 10 currencies, Number of pairs = 9*5 = 45 pairs
-
for 50 currencies, Number of pairs = 49*25 = 1,225 pairs
-
etc.
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