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BIS FX survey: about $9.6 trillion traded a day (April 2025)
Apr 2025; $7.5T in 2022· Concept
Fact, law or dataA rule, statute, definition or measured number.
Every three years the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) surveys world currency trading; in April 2025 it averaged about $9.6 trillion a day.
See it on the Money & Finance map →How it works
Central banks in about 50 jurisdictions collect one month of trades from more than 1,000 dealer banks and pass the totals to the BIS. Turnover rose 28% from $7.5 trillion in April 2022. The biggest instrument is the FX swap, about $4 trillion a day, mostly short-term dollar funding; spot trades are a smaller share. The dollar was on one side of 89% of trades, the euro 29% and the yen 17%. The UK books about 38% of trading, the US about 19%.
Why it matters
It is the only full census of the world's largest market, and it shows the dollar's dominance and London's lead, whatever the talk of de-dollarization.
Facts, rules and data
The BIS Triennial Central Bank Survey (preliminary results September 30, 2025) and national reports from central banks such as the Bank of England and the New York Fed.
Debates and risks
Why turnover jumped in 2025, from tariff-driven volatility that April, more electronic trading or reporting changes, and how much trading the survey misses.
Connections (3)
▸BIS FX survey: about $9.6 trillion traded a day (April 2025) measures trading in Exchange rates and currency marketsFact, law or data
The connection
The survey measures how currencies actually trade: spot, forwards, FX swaps, currency swaps and options, by currency pair, location and type of counterparty. That gives economists the hard data behind studies of how exchange rates are set and which currencies dominate.
When and why
Basel, Switzerland, every three years since 1989, with central banks worldwide.
How we know
BIS publications and its public data portal.
Debates and risks
How much trading happens outside the reporting dealers, for example among non-banks.
▸BIS FX survey: about $9.6 trillion traded a day (April 2025) finds 89% of trades involve The US dollar as the world's reserve currencyFact, law or data
The connection
The dollar was on one side of 89% of currency trades in April 2025, about the same as in 2022, because most currencies trade through the dollar, even when swapping two other currencies, such as won for pesos. That 'vehicle currency' role is a pillar of reserve status.
When and why
BIS triennial survey, April 2025.
How we know
BIS survey tables by currency.
Debates and risks
Whether the yuan's rising share, 8.5% in 2025, will ever challenge the dollar's role.
▸BIS FX survey: about $9.6 trillion traded a day (April 2025) dwarfs daily trading in World stock markets: about $158 trillion, 44% of it in the USFact, law or data
The connection
Currency trading of about $9.6 trillion a day is roughly ten times global stock trading, which ran under $1 trillion a day in 2025 based on World Federation of Exchanges totals. Stocks are worth more in total, but currencies change hands far more often.
When and why
BIS survey, April 2025; WFE exchange statistics for 2025.
How we know
BIS and WFE published data, which measure turnover differently.
Debates and risks
Comparisons are rough because FX swaps are short-term funding, not outright bets.