The 2025 Triennial Central Bank Survey of foreign exchange and over-the-counter interest rate derivatives markets activity reveals that trading in FX markets reached $9.6 trillion per day in April of this year, which is up a significant 28% from 2022. BIS also mentioned in the update that the trading of OTC interest rate derivatives increased 59% to $7.9 trillion each day.
The Triennial Survey is said to be the most comprehensive source of information on the size and structure of global FX and OTC interest rate derivatives markets.
BIS also mentioned hat it aims to offer a snapshot of market activity in April 2025.
Global reserve banks and other authorities in 52 jurisdictions participated, collecting data from more than 1,100 banks and other dealers in their jurisdictions.
The US dollar held its place as the most-traded currency – it was on one side of 89% of all FX trades in April 2025.
The euro was the second most actively traded currency, with a share of 28.9%, followed by the Japanese yen at 16.8%.
The share of sterling decreased to 10.2%.
Trading in the Chinese renminbi and the Swiss franc increased, with the franc advancing to become the “sixth most traded currency.”
The survey showed that FX swaps remained the most traded instrument, with average daily turnover rising to “$4 trillion in April 2025 – up 5% from April 2022.”
Turnover of FX spot increased by 42% and outright forwards rose 60%. Their shares in global turnover increased to 31% and 19%.
As explained in the latest BIS update, swaps and forwards are instruments commonly used in “hedging currency risk.”
Looking at OTC interest rate derivatives, average daily turnover of contracts denominated in euros “nearly doubled to $3.0 trillion in April 2025, reaching 38% of the global total.”
Turnover of US dollar contracts increased by “7% to $2.4 trillion.”
And as a result, the international share of US dollar contracts decline to 31% in April of this year.
This stands in contrast to the market for exchange-traded derivatives, where US dollar contracts held “65% in global turnover.”
As stated in the report shared by BIS, contracts in other major currencies also saw a considerable increase in turnover.
Turnover in sterling and Japanese yen derivatives surged by “179% and 684%, respectively, and was responsible for a third of the growth in global turnover since 2022.”
Daily average turnover in sterling contracts “reached $939 billion, or 12% of global turnover, while that for the Japanese yen registered $411 billion, or 5.2%.”
The Triennial Survey shows that FX and interest rate derivatives trading continues to be “concentrated in the largest financial centres.”
In April of this year, FX sales desks in 4 different locations – the United Kingdom, the United States, Singapore and Hong Kong SAR – accounted for 75% of the overall foreign exchange trading.
According to the update from BIS, the United Kingdom remained the “most important” FX trading location internationally, with “38% of total turnover, unchanged from three years earlier.”
For interest rate derivatives, sales desks in the UK and the US continued to record the highest turnover, with a total share of 73% in April of this year.
After an increase in trading of euro-denominated contracts, the UK’s share in total trading increased to 50%, and that of the US fell to 24% because of subdued growth in turnover of “dollar-denominated contracts.”
