The most traded currencies in the world
New data released by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has revealed that the South African Rand is the 18th most traded currency in the world, while the US dollar ranks supreme.
The Triennial Central Bank Survey, coordinated by the BIS, has been surveying foreign exchange market activity every three years since 1989.
The latest survey of turnover took place in April 2013. Central banks and other authorities in 53 jurisdictions participated in the 2013 survey, collecting data from about 1,300 banks and other dealers in their jurisdictions.
According to the BIS, global trading in foreign exchange markets averaged US$5.3 trillion per day in April 2013 – up from US$4.0 trillion in April 2010 and US$3.3 trillion in April 2007.
The South African Rand increased its share of all trades to 1.1% (up from 0.7% in 2010), making it the 18th most traded currency in the world – and the most traded currency out of all African currencies.
The Rand is on par with fellow BRICS country, Brazil’s Real, ahead of the Indian Rupee (1.0%), but below the Russian Rouble (1.6%) and China’s Yuan (2.2%).
Rand rank and share as a traded currency
Unsurprisingly, the US dollar remained the dominant vehicle currency, according to the report, as 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, as did that of several emerging market currencies – while and the Mexican peso and Chinese Yuan entered the list of the top 10 most traded currencies, the report said.
Because two currencies are involved in each transaction, the sum of the percentage shares of individual currencies totals 200% instead of 100%.
Top 20 most traded currencies
| # | Currency | Country | Share of trade (%) |
| 1 | US Dollar | USA | 87.0 |
| 2 | Euro | Europe | 33.4 |
| 3 | Yen | Japan | 23.0 |
| 4 | British Pound | Great Britain | 11.8 |
| 5 | Aus Dollar | Australia | 8.6 |
| 6 | Franc | Switzerland | 5.2 |
| 7 | Canadian Dollar | Canada | 4.6 |
| 8 | Mexican Peso | Mexico | 2.5 |
| 9 | Yuan | China | 2.2 |
| 10 | NZ Dollar | New Zealand | 2.0 |
| 11 | Krona | Sweden | 1.8 |
| 12 | Rouble | Russia | 1.6 |
| 13 | HK Dollar | Hong Kong | 1.4 |
| 14 | Krone | Norway | 1.4 |
| 15 | Singapore Dollar | Singapore | 1.4 |
| 16 | Lira | Turkey | 1.3 |
| 17 | Won | Korea | 1.2 |
| 18 | Rand | South Africa | 1.1 |
| 19 | Real | Brazil | 1.1 |
| 20 | Rupee | India | 1.0 |
| Others | 6.4 |
According to the BIS, foreign exchange market activity has become ever more concentrated in a handful of global financial centres, with the vast majority of global FX trading in 2013 occurring in the United Kingdom (41%), the United States (19%), Singapore (5.7%), Japan (5.6%) and Hong Kong SAR (4.1%).
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