The global foreign exchange market has experienced a 20 per cent rise in turnover in the last three years, according to new statistics from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).
The organisation said the average daily turnover for April 2010 was $4.0 trillion, compared to $3.3 trillion in the same month in 2007. The Swiss bank's analysts attributed the increase to a 48 per cent growth in the turnover of spot transactions.
These transactions are responsible for 37 per cent of foreign exchange market turnover, and between 2007 and 2010 rose from $1.0 trillion to $1.5 trillon.
BIS said there had been a more modest turnover increase for other foreign exchange instruments, which even saw foreign exchange swaps remain flat relative to the previous figures, and trading in currency options fall.
The euro's percentage share in the market showed a marked gain since 2007, as did the Japanese yen. The US dollar, however, continued with the slow decline that has been taking place since April 2001. The euro gained ground as one of the most actively traded currencies, as did the Canadian and Australian dollars, but the pound sterling and Swiss franc both lost popularity.
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