CLS's FX Trade Volume Report - May 2025

The analytics team at CLS Group has reviewed foreign exchange (FX) trading activity for May 2025, comparing the month against prior periods and analyzing daily and hourly trading patterns within the month. This resulted in the May 2025 FX Market Trading Report, which covers data from the FX spot, swap, and outright forward markets.

May Market Overview

Compared to the same period last year, overall FX trading volumes demonstrated an increase of 11.5%. However, average daily traded volumes in May 2025 declined by 11.3% from April, reaching USD2.26 trillion.

This year-on-year growth was reflected across all trading instruments. FX swaps were up 8.1% compared to a year ago, contributing USD1.508 trillion to the total volume. Spot trades rose 16.0%, contributing USD538 billion, and outright forwards jumped by 27.5% to USD208 billion.

Average daily volume (USD billions) by product in May 2025 vs April 2025 and May 2024

Although short-term monthly comparisons can fluctuate, Figure 2 illustrates a longer-term trend of softening spot volumes (now stabilizing) and continued growth in FX swap activity.

​Average daily volume (USD billions) by product each month over the past four years

Granular Analysis

CLS then turned its focus to the spot market. The busiest trading day in May 2025 was Friday, 30 May, when USD710 billion was traded.

Daily spot volumes peaked on Friday, 30 May

A more granular analysis of hourly spot trading revealed the typical three peak periods across Asian, European, and American trading sessions. The busiest hour of the month was 16:00 London time on 30 May, when USD161 billion traded.

Hourly spot volumes peaked at 16:00 on 30 May

Conclusion

While May 2025 saw a month-on-month decline in volumes, the FX market remained robust. Year-on-year growth was observed across all product types, underscoring resilience in global FX activity. The detailed review of daily and hourly trading dynamics highlights the complexity and temporal structure of FX trading.

CLS's Notes on the Data

The data in this report is based on trades submitted to the CLS settlement and aggregation services. The data is adjusted to align with the reporting standards of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and the semi-annual FX committee reports. These figures report only one side of each transaction and only the far leg of FX swap trades to avoid double counting. Trade time is determined using only matched trades, with the earlier of the two submission times used as a proxy. CLS receives confirmation on most trades within two minutes of execution.