Currency shares of foreign-exchange trading

Risk transfer
U.S. dollarEuroYenSterlingRenminbi

Currency shares of foreign-exchange trading. 5 series: U.S. dollar, Euro, Yen, Sterling, Renminbi. Latest, 2025: U.S. dollar 89.20%; Euro 28.68%; Yen 17.02%; Sterling 9.95%; Renminbi 8.46%.

Covers spot trades, forwards, swaps and options. The survey runs every three years, so each point is one April. It starts with the first survey after the euro's launch, because the BIS records the euro as zero before 1999 rather than as its legacy currencies. The dollar's share has barely moved in three decades: it is the vehicle currency, through which most other pairs trade.

See also: Laurence Wilse-Samson, "Global Finance: A Money View", chapter 11, Foreign Exchange Markets

Classroom exerciseExplain why the shares sum to 200. Then list the renminbi's share in each survey year and compare its latest share with China's share of world goods exports (look it up in WTO data). What explains the gap between trade weight and trading weight? Teach page

Percent of trades (sums to 200, since every trade has two currencies)BIS Triennial Central Bank Survey of foreign exchange turnover, April of each survey year, net of local and cross-border inter-dealer double-counting (BIS data portal, WS_DER_OTC_TOV); Balance of Power calculations.Data through 2025✓ Checked against BIS Triennial Central Bank Survey 2025, U.S. dollar on one side of 89.2 percent of all trades✓ Checked against BIS Triennial Central Bank Survey 2025, renminbi share of trades, 8.5 percent

Cite asBalance of Power, "Currency shares of foreign-exchange trading", data through 2025. Source: BIS Triennial Central Bank Survey of foreign exchange turnover, April of each survey year, net of local and cross-border inter-dealer double-counting (BIS data portal, WS_DER_OTC_TOV); Balance of Power calculations.

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Latest values
DateU.S. dollarEuroYenSterlingRenminbi
200488.7837.6120.7215.990.09
200786.0936.8417.6914.350.42
201085.3639.1118.4912.580.84
201387.3233.5322.7411.582.21
201688.1531.3322.1012.373.92
201988.6532.4216.9912.514.36
202288.7730.8916.7012.656.89
202589.2028.6817.029.958.46
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Inputs
ColumnSourceSeries keyStatusData through
usd_vbisWS_DER_OTC_TOV/A.U.A.B.5J.A.5J.A.USD.TO1.A.A.3.Blive2025
eur_vbisWS_DER_OTC_TOV/A.U.A.B.5J.A.5J.A.EUR.TO1.A.A.3.Blive2025
jpy_vbisWS_DER_OTC_TOV/A.U.A.B.5J.A.5J.A.JPY.TO1.A.A.3.Blive2025
gbp_vbisWS_DER_OTC_TOV/A.U.A.B.5J.A.5J.A.GBP.TO1.A.A.3.Blive2025
cny_vbisWS_DER_OTC_TOV/A.U.A.B.5J.A.5J.A.CNY.TO1.A.A.3.Blive2025
total_vbisWS_DER_OTC_TOV/A.U.A.B.5J.A.5J.A.TO1.TO1.A.A.3.Blive2025