Key Takeaways
- The US dollar dominates currency trading. It was on one side of 89.2% of all trades in the BIS survey of April 2025, followed by the euro at 28.9% and the yen at 16.8%.
- The top ten are USD, EUR, JPY, GBP, CNY, CHF, AUD, CAD, HKD and SGD. Shares add up to 200% because every trade involves two currencies.
- All ten of the most traded pairs include the dollar. EUR/USD is the largest, and the London and New York overlap is usually the busiest time to trade them.
- Heavily traded currencies usually cost less to trade. In our example, 20 trades on a major pair cost about $20 in spread, against about $600 on an exotic pair.
The most traded currencies in the world are the US dollar, the euro, the Japanese yen, the British pound and the Chinese renminbi, followed by the Swiss franc, the Australian dollar, the Canadian dollar, the Hong Kong dollar and the Singapore dollar. The US dollar is in a league of its own: it is on one side of about 89% of all currency trades.
These figures come from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Triennial Survey, the largest study of the global currency market, which measured an average of $9.6 trillion traded every day in April 2025. This guide explains the ranking, what makes each currency important, which pairs trade most, and what all of this means for your trading costs.
The Top 10 Most Traded Currencies
| Rank | Currency | Code | Share of global trading |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US dollar | USD | 89.2% |
| 2 | Euro | EUR | 28.9% |
| 3 | Japanese yen | JPY | 16.8% |
| 4 | British pound | GBP | 10.2% |
| 5 | Chinese renminbi | CNY | 8.5% |
| 6 | Swiss franc | CHF | 6.4% |
| 7 and 8 | Australian dollar and Canadian dollar | AUD, CAD | About 6% each |
| 9 | Hong Kong dollar | HKD | 3.8% |
| 10 | Singapore dollar | SGD | About 2% |
The figures are from the preliminary results of the BIS survey of April 2025, summarized in the BIS commentary on foreign exchange turnover in April 2025. The survey runs every three years, so these are the latest full figures available.
Every currency trade involves two currencies. When someone buys EUR/USD, both the euro and the dollar are counted. So the shares of all currencies add up to 200%, not 100%. The dollar’s 89.2% means it appears on one side of 89.2% of all trades.
What changed since the previous survey
Compared with the 2022 survey, the dollar’s share rose slightly from 88.4%. The euro fell from 30.6% and the pound dropped from 12.9%, while the renminbi and the Swiss franc gained ground. The franc moved up from eighth place to sixth. Total daily trading grew 28%, from $7.5 trillion to $9.6 trillion, helped by a burst of activity after trade policy announcements in early April 2025.
The Top Currencies, One by One
1. US dollar (USD)
The dollar is the world’s main reserve currency and the default currency for trade, debt and commodities such as oil and gold. Many trades between two other currencies actually pass through the dollar, which is why it is called a vehicle currency.
- Central bank: US Federal Reserve.
- What moves it: US interest rates, inflation and jobs data, and global risk sentiment.
- Popular pairs: EUR/USD, USD/JPY, GBP/USD, USD/CHF, AUD/USD, USD/CAD.
2. Euro (EUR)
The currency of the euro area and the second most traded currency. EUR/USD is the most traded currency pair in the world.
- Central bank: European Central Bank.
- What moves it: euro area interest rates, inflation, growth data and political news across member countries.
- Popular pairs: EUR/USD, EUR/GBP, EUR/JPY, EUR/CHF.
3. Japanese yen (JPY)
The main Asian currency in global trading. The yen is often treated as a safe haven, meaning it can strengthen when markets are worried. For years, Japan’s low interest rates made the yen popular for carry trades, where traders borrow in a low yielding currency to buy a higher yielding one.
- Central bank: Bank of Japan.
- What moves it: Bank of Japan policy, the gap between US and Japanese interest rates, and risk sentiment.
- Popular pairs: USD/JPY, EUR/JPY, GBP/JPY.
4. British pound (GBP)
One of the oldest currencies still in use, and closely tied to London, the world’s largest currency trading center. The pound is known for larger moves than the euro on many days.
- Central bank: Bank of England.
- What moves it: UK interest rates, inflation and political news.
- Popular pairs: GBP/USD, EUR/GBP, GBP/JPY.
5. Chinese renminbi (CNY)
The renminbi has been gaining share steadily for more than a decade. It trades in two forms: CNY inside mainland China, where the central bank sets a daily reference rate and limits how far it can move, and CNH offshore, which trades more freely. Retail brokers who offer it usually quote USD/CNH.
- Central bank: People’s Bank of China.
- What moves it: Chinese policy decisions, trade data and US and China relations.
6. Swiss franc (CHF)
Switzerland’s currency, known as a safe haven alongside the yen. It moved up to sixth place in the latest survey.
- Central bank: Swiss National Bank.
- What moves it: global risk sentiment, Swiss National Bank policy and moves in the euro.
- Popular pairs: USD/CHF, EUR/CHF.
7 and 8. Australian dollar (AUD) and Canadian dollar (CAD)
Both are often called commodity currencies. The Australian dollar is linked to metals exports and to demand from China, while the Canadian dollar is closely linked to oil prices and to the US economy.
- Central banks: Reserve Bank of Australia and Bank of Canada.
- Popular pairs: AUD/USD, AUD/JPY, USD/CAD.
9. Hong Kong dollar (HKD)
The Hong Kong dollar is pegged to the US dollar within a narrow band of 7.75 to 7.85 per dollar. Its share rose to 3.8% in the latest survey. Because of the peg, USD/HKD barely moves, so it is rarely traded by retail speculators.
10. Singapore dollar (SGD)
Singapore is now the world’s third largest currency trading center. Instead of setting interest rates, the Monetary Authority of Singapore manages the currency against a basket of its trading partners’ currencies.
Other widely traded currencies outside the top ten include the New Zealand dollar, the Swedish krona, the Norwegian krone and the South Korean won.
The Most Traded Currency Pairs
According to the BIS, all ten of the most traded currency pairs include the US dollar. EUR/USD is the largest by a wide margin, followed by other dollar pairs such as USD/JPY, GBP/USD, USD/CNY, AUD/USD, USD/CAD and USD/CHF. Trading in USD/CNY, USD/CHF and USD/HKD grew fastest in the latest survey.
Retail brokers group pairs into three broad categories:
| Category | What it means | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Majors | The US dollar paired with another top currency | EUR/USD, USD/JPY, GBP/USD, USD/CHF, AUD/USD, USD/CAD, NZD/USD |
| Crosses (minors) | Two major currencies without the US dollar | EUR/GBP, EUR/JPY, GBP/JPY, AUD/JPY, EUR/CHF |
| Exotics | A major currency paired with a smaller or emerging market currency | USD/TRY, USD/ZAR, USD/MXN, EUR/PLN |
Where and When Currencies Are Traded
The currency market runs 24 hours a day from Monday to Friday, but the trading is concentrated in a few cities. Sales desks in the United Kingdom handled about 38% of all trading, the United States about 19%, Singapore 11.8% and Hong Kong 7%, so these four centers together handled three quarters of the market.
That is why liquidity is usually deepest when London is open, and especially during the few hours when London and New York overlap. For most major pairs, roughly 12:00 to 16:00 UTC is the busiest part of the day. Currencies also tend to be most active during their own region’s hours: the yen and the Australian dollar during the Asian session, the euro, pound and franc during London.
The same timing applies to gold and silver, which trade against the dollar. Our guide on when to trade gold covers the daily rhythm for metals.
Why the Most Traded Currencies Matter for Your Costs
The more a currency is traded, the more buyers and sellers there are at any moment. That usually means tighter spreads, less slippage and steadier prices. Less traded currencies can be cheap to quote but expensive to actually trade.
Worked example: a major pair vs an exotic pair
Say you open and close one 0.10 lot trade a day for 20 trading days, once on a major pair and once on an exotic pair. The spreads below are example figures to show the effect, so check your own broker’s pricing.
| Major pair | Exotic pair | |
|---|---|---|
| Example spread | 1 pip | 30 pips |
| Example pip value on 0.10 lot | About $1 | About $1 |
| Spread cost per trade | About $1 | About $30 |
| Spread cost over 20 trades | About $20 | About $600 |
On a $5,000 account, the exotic pair’s spreads alone would cost 12% of the account in a month in this example, before any losses. Exotic pairs also tend to have larger swaps and can make very sharp moves when liquidity disappears.
Pip values differ between pairs, so the same lot size on an exotic pair does not always mean the same pip value. Always check the symbol’s specification before trading something new.
More liquidity does not mean less risk
High liquidity keeps costs low, but it does not stop a currency from moving fast. The pound, the yen and the Swiss franc have all made very large single day moves in the past. Use stop losses and size positions carefully on every pair. Our guide to volatility indicators in forex shows how to measure how much a pair is moving.
How to Use This When Choosing What to Trade
- Start with majors. EUR/USD, USD/JPY and GBP/USD usually offer the lowest costs and the most information and analysis available.
- Trade during the currency’s active hours. The yen and Australian dollar move more in Asian hours, while European currencies are busiest from the London open.
- Know what drives each currency. Commodity currencies react to commodity prices, safe havens react to fear in markets, and the dollar reacts to almost everything in the US.
- Watch for overlap between trades. Several trades against the dollar at once can act like one big dollar trade. Our guide to forex hedging explains how pairs move together.
- Treat exotics with extra care. Higher costs, larger swaps and sudden gaps mean smaller positions and wider stops.
- Match the pair to the market condition. Some pairs spend long stretches ranging and others trend strongly. Our guide to trending and ranging markets shows how to tell the difference.
The Most Traded Currencies and Trading Bots
Liquidity matters even more for Expert Advisors, because a bot trades the same way every time. Tight, stable spreads keep costs predictable, and deep markets mean fewer bad fills when the bot opens or closes many trades. Most automated forex strategies are built and tested on major pairs for that reason.
XAUBOT, our own platform, lets you customize a prebuilt bot for major and minor currency pairs, choose a Scalp or Multi Level method, and set its risk, stop loss and daily loss limits. One bot can be set to trade several symbols. You can see the supported markets on our forex trading bot page, and if you also trade gold against the dollar, on our gold trading EA page.
Every bot runs on MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5, and you can test any setup free for 15 days on a demo account before trading live.
Most Traded Currencies Questions
What is the most traded currency in the world?
The US dollar. In the BIS survey of April 2025, it was on one side of 89.2% of all currency trades, far ahead of the euro at 28.9%.
What is the most traded currency pair?
EUR/USD, the euro against the US dollar. All ten of the most traded pairs include the US dollar.
Is the most traded currency the same as the strongest currency?
No. Being heavily traded means a currency is used widely, not that one unit is worth a lot. Some currencies, such as the Kuwaiti dinar, are worth more than a dollar per unit but are traded very little.
Is the US dollar losing its dominance?
Not in currency trading, at least not yet. Its share actually rose slightly in the latest survey, from 88.4% to 89.2%. The renminbi’s share has been growing, but from a much smaller base.
Can I trade the Chinese renminbi?
Usually through USD/CNH, the offshore version, if your broker offers it. Spreads are generally wider than on major pairs, and Chinese policy decisions can move it sharply.
Which currency pair is best for beginners?
Many beginners start with EUR/USD because it has tight spreads, deep liquidity and plenty of available analysis. That makes costs low, but it does not make it risk free.
Final Word
The most traded currencies in the world are led by a very dominant US dollar, followed by the euro, the yen, the pound and a fast rising renminbi. For traders, the ranking matters because heavily traded currencies usually mean lower costs and smoother execution. Start with the major pairs, trade them during their busiest hours, and size every trade for the risk, whatever the pair.
Trading forex with leverage carries a high risk of loss. Only trade with money you can afford to lose.
