In April 2025, 25 financial institutions active in the UK foreign exchange (FX) market participated in the semi-annual turnover survey for the Foreign Exchange Joint Standing Committee (FXJSC). The survey results are summarised below. Detailed tables for the April 2025 reporting period are available separately.
The main findings of the survey are:
- During April 2025, uncertainty surrounding global trade policies led to high levels of activity and volatility across financial markets, including FX. The average daily UK FX turnover reached a record high of $4,045 billion, representing a 26% increase relative to turnover recorded in the October 2024 survey. This constituted the largest survey-on-survey increase since 2013.
- On a year-on-year basis, FX turnover in April 2025 increased by 20%, when compared to the April 2024 survey.
- Growth across instruments was broad, but mainly led by spot which increased by 42% compared to the October 2024 survey to $1,293 billion. FX swaps increased to $1,563 billion, up by 11% in comparison to the October 2024 survey and remained the most traded instrument by volume. FX options volumes reached $350 billion, up 52% from the October 2024 survey.
- Market share of the top three traded currency pairs: EUR/USD, USD/JPY and GBP/USD remained broadly in line with previous surveys. EUR/USD continued to be the most traded currency pair in London, with an average daily turnover of $1,010 billion, making up 25% of overall FX turnover in April 2025.
- Since April 2008, overall FX turnover has risen steadily from $1,815 billion to $4,045 billion.
