Introduction
The top 10 most traded currency pairs in the world are EUR/USD, USD/JPY, GBP/USD, AUD/USD, USD/CAD, USD/CNY, USD/CHF, USD/HKD, EUR/GBP, and USD/KRW. Together they account for the bulk of the roughly $9.6 trillion that changes hands every day in the global foreign exchange market. The three busiest are EUR/USD, USD/JPY, and GBP/USD, and every pair at the top shares one trait: the US dollar sits on one side of the trade.
These pairs dominate because deep liquidity brings tighter spreads and cleaner execution, which is exactly what active traders want.
What are the most traded forex pairs in the world?
Foreign exchange is the largest and most liquid market on earth, and its volume is heavily concentrated. According to the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) 2025 Triennial Central Bank Survey — the most authoritative source of FX turnover data — global trading averaged about $9.6 trillion per day in April 2025, with the US dollar on one side of roughly 89% of all trades.
That dollar dominance is why the busiest pairs look the way they do. The seven major forex pairs still make up the most traded forex pairs by volume, though their combined share slipped from about 85% in 2022 to 66.3% in 2025 as Asian pairs grew. The list below follows the pairing order most widely referenced across the market, with each share drawn from the BIS 2025 survey.
One caveat on the ranking: measured strictly by turnover, USD/CNY now sits third, and two Asian pairs — USD/SGD (~2.2%) and USD/INR (~1.9%) — have climbed into the genuine global top ten. The list here keeps the conventional ordering that most traders and brokers still use.
Pro Tip: Concentrated liquidity is why EUR/USD routinely carries the tightest spread of any pair — the most traded pair is usually also the cheapest to trade.
What is a forex pair? Understanding base and quote currencies
Currencies always trade in pairs because buying one currency means selling another at the same moment. In any pair, the first currency is the base currency and the second is the quote currency; the price shows how many units of the quote currency it takes to buy one unit of the base.
Take EUR/USD at 1.08. The euro is the base and the dollar is the quote, so one euro costs 1.08 US dollars. When you buy EUR/USD you are long euros and short dollars; when you sell, the reverse is true.
What are the different types of forex pairs?
Major forex pairs are the most liquid pairs that includes the US dollar: EUR/USD, USD/JPY, GBP/USD, and USD/CHF, alongside the three commodity majors below.
Commodity currencies are majors whose economies lean on raw-material exports — AUD/USD, USD/CAD, and NZD/USD — so their prices track demand for metals, oil, and soft commodities.
Cross Currencies leave the dollar out entirely, such as EUR/GBP or EUR/JPY, letting you trade one economy directly against another. Exotics pair a major with a smaller or emerging-market currency, like USD/KRW or USD/TRY; they offer bigger moves but wider spreads and thinner liquidity.
Which forex pairs are the most volatile?
High turnover and high volatility are not the same thing. EUR/USD is the most traded pair, yet it is one of the calmer majors because its enormous liquidity absorbs order flow.
The pairs that move the most tend to be yen crosses and exotics. GBP/JPY — nicknamed the beast — is a long-standing favourite of volatility traders, and AUD/JPY swings hard because it blends a risk-sensitive commodity currency with a funding currency. Emerging-market exotics such as USD/ZAR, USD/MXN, and USD/TRY can move several percent in a single session.
More movement is not free. Volatile pairs carry wider spreads, larger overnight swaps, and a higher risk of slippage in fast markets, so position sizing matters far more than it does on a liquid major.
Important: A pair that moves more is not automatically more profitable — wider spreads and slippage can quietly erode the larger price swings you are chasing.
EUR/USD (Euro / US Dollar)
EUR/USD is the most traded currency pair in the world, accounting for roughly 21% of all forex turnover in the BIS 2025 survey. It pairs the two largest economies — the eurozone and the United States — which is why it is the benchmark every trader watches.
The pair's defining feature is liquidity. That liquidity depth translates into the tightest spreads available and highly reliable execution, making EUR/USD the natural starting point for most traders.
Its rate is driven mainly by the interest-rate gap between the European Central Bank and the US Federal Reserve. When the Fed is expected to hold rates above the ECB, capital tends to favour the dollar and EUR/USD drifts lower; a narrowing gap tends to lift it.
USD/JPY (US Dollar / Japanese Yen)
USD/JPY, nicknamed the gopher, is the second most traded pair at about 14% of global turnover. The yen is the most heavily traded currency in Asia and the dollar is the most traded globally, so together they form a natural liquidity hub across the Asian and US sessions.
The pair is dominated by the policy divergence between the Bank of Japan and the Federal Reserve. Because Japanese rates sat near zero for years, USD/JPY became the core of the carry trade, where traders borrow cheap yen to buy higher-yielding assets elsewhere.
The hidden risk is that carry trades unwind violently. When risk sentiment turns, the yen can strengthen sharply within hours, and crowded carry positions get flushed out fast.
GBP/USD (British Pound / US Dollar)
GBP/USD, known as cable, is the third pair on this list at around 7.6% of turnover. The nickname dates to the 19th century, when pound-dollar quotes were transmitted across the transatlantic telegraph cable running under the sea.
Cable has a reputation for sharp, technical moves. It is driven by the policy gap between the Bank of England and the Fed, UK inflation and growth data, and shifts in broad risk appetite.
Because it moves faster than EUR/USD but stays highly liquid, cable suits traders who want volatility without dropping into thinner exotics.
AUD/USD (Australian Dollar / US Dollar)
AUD/USD, the aussie, makes up close to 5% of daily forex turnover and is the classic commodity-currency pair. Australia is a major exporter of iron ore, coal, and other minerals, so the Australian dollar rises and falls with global commodity demand.
The single biggest external driver is China. As Australia's largest export market, Chinese growth and industrial demand feed almost directly into the aussie, which often trades as a liquid proxy for China sentiment.
Domestically, the Reserve Bank of Australia's rate decisions and the country's terms of trade set the tone. The aussie is also a well-known risk barometer, gaining when markets are confident and falling when they turn defensive.
USD/CAD (US Dollar / Canadian Dollar)
USD/CAD, the loonie, accounts for a little over 5% of turnover and is tightly bound to Canada's export economy. Canada is one of the world's largest oil exporters, so the pair is unusually sensitive to crude prices.
The relationship is inverse: when oil rises, the Canadian dollar typically strengthens and USD/CAD falls, because higher oil revenues support the loonie. A drop in crude tends to push the pair up.
Beyond oil, the rate gap between the Bank of Canada and the Fed matters, and because roughly three-quarters of Canadian exports go to the United States, US demand and trade policy move the pair as much as anything domestic.
USD/CNY (US Dollar / Chinese Yuan)
USD/CNY pairs the dollar with China's onshore yuan, and it has grown explosively — turnover rose around 59% between the 2022 and 2025 BIS surveys. Measured purely by volume it now ranks third globally, a reflection of China's weight in world trade.
What sets this pair apart is management. The yuan is not freely floating; the People's Bank of China guides it within a controlled band and has historically leaned toward a softer yuan to keep Chinese exports competitively priced.
For traders that means the pair behaves differently from a free-floating major. Moves can be capped or shaped by policy, and access is often through the related offshore CNH market or via CFDs rather than the tightly controlled onshore currency.
USD/CHF (US Dollar / Swiss Franc)
USD/CHF, the swissie, sits near 5% of turnover and is the market's classic safe-haven pair. Switzerland's long history of neutrality, financial stability, and strong institutions has made the franc a currency investors run to in times of stress.
That safe-haven status is the key to reading it. When global risk spikes, money flows into the franc, strengthening it and pushing USD/CHF lower — so a persistent bid for the franc can itself signal that markets expect trouble ahead.
The wildcard is the Swiss National Bank, which has intervened aggressively in the past to stop the franc appreciating too far. That history of intervention means the swissie can behave unpredictably around SNB policy.
USD/HKD (US Dollar / Hong Kong Dollar)
USD/HKD makes up roughly 3.6% of global turnover, and its volume has surged — close to doubling between the 2022 and 2025 surveys as North-Asian trade and China-linked flows expanded.
The defining feature is the peg. The Hong Kong dollar is held within a tight band against the US dollar under a linked exchange-rate system, so the pair barely moves compared with a floating major.
That stability changes how it is used. Rather than a directional bet, USD/HKD is largely a vehicle for hedging, funding, and managing regional dollar exposure, with traders watching the edges of the band and Hong Kong money-market rates for pressure on the peg.
EUR/GBP (Euro / British Pound)
EUR/GBP is the most actively traded cross that does not involve the US dollar, at roughly 2% of global turnover. It sets two closely linked but distinct economies — the eurozone and the United Kingdom — directly against each other.
Because both sides are major developed-market currencies, EUR/GBP tends to trade in tighter ranges than dollar pairs, with moves driven by the relative stance of the ECB and the Bank of England. It is the cleanest way to express a view on Europe-versus-UK policy divergence without dollar noise clouding the signal.
The trade-off for that range-bound behaviour is that breakouts — when they come around major policy shifts or political events — can be abrupt.
USD/KRW (US Dollar / South Korean Won)
USD/KRW pairs the dollar with the South Korean won and rounds out this list at close to 2% of turnover. It is classed as an exotic, but a heavily traded one, reflecting Korea's size as a trading and manufacturing economy.
Its most important structural quirk is that much of the volume trades offshore as non-deliverable forwards (NDFs), because the won is not fully deliverable outside Korea. That makes the pair behave differently from a standard major and concentrates activity in the NDF market.
Fundamentally, the won trades as a proxy for the global technology and semiconductor cycle. Strong chip and electronics exports tend to support it, while global risk-off moves and tech downturns weigh on it.
Which other currency pairs are worth watching?
Beyond the ten above, a few pairs deserve a place on your radar for reasons that are easy to miss.
NZD/USD, the kiwi, is a commodity major driven by New Zealand's dairy and agricultural exports and by carry-trade demand. The insight most lists skip: it moves almost in lockstep with AUD/USD, so trading both is not diversification — it is doubling down on a single commodity and risk-sentiment bet.
USD/INR matters more than its label suggests. Measured by the latest BIS data it has climbed into the genuine global top ten, at around 1.9% of turnover, lifted by India's growing trade and one of the world's largest remittance flows. For traders in India in particular, it is the most relevant pair to understand.
USD/SGD punches above its weight because Singapore is a major global FX hub. The Monetary Authority of Singapore manages the currency against an undisclosed basket rather than setting interest rates, which gives the pair a distinctive, policy-shaped rhythm and makes it a useful read on Southeast-Asian trade.
What is the best forex pair to trade?
There is no single best pair — only the one that fits your strategy, session, and risk tolerance. If you want the tightest costs and deepest liquidity, EUR/USD is the default; if you want more movement, cable and the yen pairs deliver it, at the cost of wider spreads and faster swings.
A practical rule is to master one or two liquid majors before touching crosses or exotics. The most traded pairs give you the cleanest execution, the most available analysis, and the fewest nasty surprises while you build a process.
You can trade all of these currency pairs as CFDs with TMGM, an ASIC-regulated, tier-1 broker, on MT4, MT5, and the TMGM app, and test any approach risk-free on a demo account first. CFD trading involves significant risk and is not suitable for all investors. You could lose more than your initial deposit.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most traded currency pair in the world?
EUR/USD. It accounts for roughly 21% of all global forex turnover in the BIS 2025 survey — more than the next two pairs combined — thanks to the size of the eurozone and US economies and the dollar's central role in the market.
Which currency pair is most relevant for traders in India?
USD/INR. It has risen into the global top ten by turnover and directly reflects the rupee's value against the dollar, making it the natural focus for Indian traders, though many access it through CFDs given onshore restrictions.
Are the most traded pairs also the best pairs to trade?
For most traders, yes — at least to start. The busiest pairs offer the tightest spreads, deepest liquidity, and cleanest execution, which lowers cost and slippage. They are not the most volatile, so traders chasing bigger moves look to yen crosses and exotics and accept wider costs.
