Pound Sterling Share of Global Markets Slides but London Cements Number 1. Spot as World's Leading Trading Centre
The British Pound Sterling's share of the world's foreign exchange markets has fallen from 12.9 pct in 2010 to 11.8 in 2013 reports the Bank for International Settlements.
The UK currency ranks behind the US Dollar, the Euro and Japanese Yen when it comes to market share. We can track the share of the world's largest currencies below (Click to expand):
Meanwhile the Pound / US Dollar (GBP/USD) pairing also saw its volumes rise significantly; however as a proportion of total trade the once dominant Cable lost market share.
As can be expected, the EUR/USD retains its dominance as the world's most heavily traded currency pair:
Pic: Courtesy of Reuters.
London has meanwhile cemented its undisputed position as the global foreign exchange trading capital with the UK now accounting for 40.9 pct of global forex trade in 2013, up from 36.8 pct in 2010.
New York comes in second with Eastern nations holding the next prominent positions:
Pic: Courtesy of Reuters.
More details concerning the global foreign exchange markets
The BIS reports:
- 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 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.