Each day, billions of dollars are traded on the global foreign exchange (FX) market. The U.S. dollar (USD) is involved in 88% of all trades and makes up 58% of global currency reserves. But which currencies are most frequently paired with the dollar in these transactions?

In collaboration with OANDA, this graphic, Visual Capitalist's Julia Wendling offers a clear visual breakdown of the top currencies traded alongside the USD.

The data is based on daily transaction volumes from the New York Fed’s April 2024 FX Volume Survey.

FX Trading: The Most Traded Currencies Against the USD

At an average volume of $93.3 billion per day, the euro was the most-traded currency against the USD in April 2024.

The Japanese yen took the second place spot, followed by the Canadian dollar. Both currencies saw a large increase in daily transactions from last year. The daily trading volume for the Japanese yen-USD pair rose by $12.0 billion over this period. Similarly, the volume of the Canadian dollar-USD pair increased by $13.8 billion.

Other Takeaways

Despite being the world’s second largest economy, trading of Chinese yuan remains relatively low. With a daily transaction volume of $10.6 billion, the renminbi ranked #10 on the list. Three of its peers in Asia outranked the Chinese yuan—the Japanese yen (#2), the Hong Kong dollar (#8), and the Singapore dollar (#9).

Free trade agreements boosted the foreign exchange flows between the USD and the Canadian dollar, Australian dollar, Mexican peso, and Singapore dollar.

FX Trading Doesn’t Have to Be Complex

Trading on the FX market can be intimidating. Understanding who the key players are can help bring clarity to investors. Learning how to manage risk, having a trading plan, and understanding price movements are also important.