Highlights of the 2013 survey
Trading in foreign exchange markets averaged $5.3 trillion per day in April 2013. This is up from
$4.0 trillion in April 2010 and $3.3 trillion in April 2007. FX swaps were the most actively traded
instruments in April 2013, at $2.2 trillion per day, followed by spot trading at $2.0 trillion.
The growth of foreign exchange trading was driven by financial institutions other than reporting
dealers. The 2013 survey collected a finer sectoral breakdown of these other institutions for the first
time. Smaller banks (not participating in the survey as reporting dealers) accounted for 24% of turnover,
institutional investors such as pension funds and insurance companies 11%, and hedge funds and
proprietary trading firms another 11%. Trading with non-financial customers, mainly corporations,
contracted between the 2010 and 2013 surveys, reducing their share of global turnover to only 9%.
The US dollar remained the dominant vehicle currency; it was on one side of 87% of all trades in
April 2013. The euro was the second most traded currency, but its share fell to 33% in April 2013 from
39% in April 2010. The turnover of the Japanese yen increased significantly between the 2010 and 2013
surveys. So too did that of several emerging market currencies, and the Mexican peso and Chinese
renminbi entered the list of the top 10 most traded currencies. Methodological changes in the 2013
survey ensured more complete coverage of activity in emerging market currencies.
Trading is increasingly concentrated in the largest financial centres. In April 2013, sales desks in
the United Kingdom, the United States, Singapore and Japan intermediated 71% of foreign exchange
trading, whereas in April 2010 their combined share was 66%.