Trading connects US equities, global foreign exchange, cryptocurrencies, and derivatives—moving at immense daily scales and increasingly through electronic execution and algorithmic systems. Across venues, loss rates and churn are recurring themes: many retail day traders struggle early, and leverage can trigger frequent margin calls. As the page compares volumes and participation, it also looks at who tends to lose, what conditions shape underperformance, and why buy-and-hold has historically beaten day trading over time.
Key Takeaways
- The average daily trading volume in the US equity markets reached 12.5 billion shares in 2023
- Global foreign exchange turnover averaged $7.5 trillion per day in April 2022, marking a 14% increase from 2019
- The cryptocurrency market saw a total trading volume of $109 trillion in 2022
- Only 10-20% of day traders are consistently profitable long-term
- Average retail forex trader loses 74% of accounts in first year
- S&P 500 annual return averaged 10.2% from 1957-2023
- 71-85% of retail CFD accounts lose money quarterly
- Average day trader loses $10,000-$50,000 in first year
- Forex retail leverage leads to 70% margin calls annually
- 82% of mobile trading apps used by day traders in 2023
- Algorithmic trading accounts for 60-73% of US equity volume
- 95% of forex trades executed electronically in 2023
- Co-location services used by 80% top HFT firms, category: Technology and Tools
- 72% of individual investors in the US are millennials or Gen Z as of 2023
- Women represent 25% of active day traders in forex markets globally in 2023
Across markets, most retail traders lose money, while algorithmic and AI-driven trading dominate volume.
Related reading
01 · Category
Market Size And Volume30 stats
01
The average daily trading volume in the US equity markets reached 12.5 billion shares in 2023
02
Global foreign exchange turnover averaged $7.5 trillion per day in April 2022, marking a 14% increase from 2019
03
The cryptocurrency market saw a total trading volume of $109 trillion in 2022
04
CME Group's average daily volume for futures and options reached 25.1 million contracts in Q4 2023
05
The notional value of OTC derivatives traded globally was $618 trillion at end-2022
06
India's equity cash market turnover hit ₹1,200 trillion in FY 2023
07
Bitcoin's 24-hour trading volume averaged $30 billion in 2023
08
The London Stock Exchange reported £2.5 trillion in annual trading value in 2023
09
Global ETF trading volume exceeded $10 trillion in 2022
10
US Treasury securities daily trading volume averaged $900 billion in 2023
11
Shanghai Stock Exchange daily turnover averaged 500 billion yuan in 2023
12
Forex spot market share was 30% of total FX turnover in 2022
13
Crypto derivatives trading volume hit $3.5 trillion monthly in late 2023
14
Eurex exchange cleared 2.2 billion contracts in 2023
15
Global bond market trading volume was $120 trillion annually in 2022
16
Nasdaq daily average volume was 4.5 billion shares in 2023
17
EUR/USD pair accounted for 23% of global FX turnover in 2022
18
DeFi total value locked reached $50 billion peak in 2023
19
Tokyo Stock Exchange annual trading value was ¥800 trillion in FY2023
20
Options trading volume on CBOE hit 10.5 million contracts daily in 2023
21
Global commodities futures volume was 30 billion contracts in 2023
22
Hong Kong Stock Exchange turnover reached HK$40 trillion in 2023
23
USD accounts for 88% of FX turnover globally in 2022
24
NFT trading volume dropped to $8.7 billion in 2023 from $24B in 2022
25
Brazil's B3 exchange traded 4.5 billion contracts in 2023
26
Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) ADV was 3.2 million contracts in 2023
27
Global stock market capitalization hit $100 trillion in 2023
28
Forex swaps constituted 49% of total FX turnover in 2022
29
Solana blockchain daily DEX volume averaged $2 billion in 2023
30
ASX 200 daily turnover averaged A$6.5 billion in 2023
Interpretation
Market Size And Volume Interpretation
Market activity is clearly expanding across major venues, with US equities averaging 12.5 billion shares a day in 2023 and global foreign exchange turnover rising to $7.5 trillion per day in April 2022, reflecting a broad, growing scale of Market Size And Volume.
02 · Category
Performance And Returns26 stats
01
Only 10-20% of day traders are consistently profitable long-term
02
Average retail forex trader loses 74% of accounts in first year
03
S&P 500 annual return averaged 10.2% from 1957-2023
04
Buy-and-hold strategy outperformed day trading by 6.5% annually over 20 years
05
Crypto market returned 230% in 2023 after -65% in 2022
06
Average hedge fund return was 7.8% in 2023 vs S&P 12.5%
07
Retail traders underperform market by 1.5-4% annually
08
Forex algorithmic trading returns averaged 12% annually for top firms in 2023
09
Value stocks returned 11.5% annually vs growth 9.8% over 1926-2023
10
80% of options expire worthless for retail buyers
11
Momentum strategies yielded 8.3% excess return 1990-2023
12
Gold annual return 7.9% vs stocks 10.3% over past 50 years
13
Average prop trader return is 25% annually with 10% drawdown
14
ESG funds underperformed benchmarks by 2.5% in 2023
15
Carry trade in forex averaged 5-7% returns pre-2008
16
Dividend aristocrats returned 10.8% annually 2000-2023
17
95% of forex scalpers lose money within 3 months
18
Small-cap stocks returned 11.9% annually 1926-2023
19
Bitcoin halvings led to 300-500% returns in following year avg
20
Pairs trading strategy Sharpe ratio 1.2 over 20 years
21
Bond ladder strategy yielded 4.5% annually 2010-2023
22
Mean-reversion in commodities returned 9% annually 1980-2023
23
Leveraged ETFs decayed 5% annually vs unleveraged
24
Insider trading signals beat market by 6% monthly
25
85% of day traders quit within 2 years due to losses
26
Volatility trading via VIX futures averaged 15% returns 2010-2023
Interpretation
Performance And Returns Interpretation
Across Performance And Returns, the data shows that most active retail trading struggles while broad benchmarks shine, with only 10 to 20% of day traders staying consistently profitable long term and the S&P 500 averaging 10.2% annually from 1957 to 2023.
03 · Category
Risk And Losses30 stats
01
71-85% of retail CFD accounts lose money quarterly
02
Average day trader loses $10,000-$50,000 in first year
03
Forex retail leverage leads to 70% margin calls annually
04
97% of crypto futures traders lose money per exchange data
05
Options buyers lose 100% premium 70% of trades
06
Black Monday 1987 saw 22.6% S&P drop in one day
07
Average max drawdown for day traders is 40-50%
08
Crypto market lost $2 trillion in 2022 bear market
09
Flash crash 2010 erased $1 trillion in 36 minutes
10
60% of retail traders blow up accounts within 6 months
11
LTCM hedge fund lost 92% in 1998 crisis
12
Average prop firm trader fails evaluation 80% of time
13
Archegos Capital caused $10B losses to banks in 2021
14
75% of leveraged ETF holders underperform due to decay
15
Dot-com bubble burst erased 78% from Nasdaq 2000-2002
16
Forex stop-hunting causes 30% unexpected losses for retail
17
90% of gamblers vs traders exhibit loss-chasing behavior
18
2008 financial crisis saw 57% S&P drop peak-to-trough
19
Crypto leverage trading liquidation hit $10B in May 2021 crash
20
Average trader risk per trade exceeds 2% of capital 65% time
21
Rogue trading by Nick Leeson caused £827M Barings loss 1995
22
80% of short sellers face squeezes losing 20%+ avg
23
Retail gamma squeeze amplified GME 2000% rally 2021 losses
24
High-yield bonds default rate 4.5% in 2023 recession fears
25
Algorithmic fat-finger errors caused $440M loss in 2010
26
65% of traders ignore stop-losses leading to outsized losses
27
Terra/Luna collapse wiped $40B in 2022
28
50% of day trading losses from overnight gaps
29
40% of trading volume from HFT increases volatility risk
30
75% of retail investors panic sell at market bottoms
Interpretation
Risk And Losses Interpretation
Under the Risk And Losses lens, the data shows that losses dominate across trading types, with 71 to 85% of retail CFD accounts losing money each quarter and crypto futures traders losing 97% of the time.
More related reading
04 · Category
Technology And Tools25 stats
01
82% of mobile trading apps used by day traders in 2023
02
Algorithmic trading accounts for 60-73% of US equity volume
03
95% of forex trades executed electronically in 2023
04
AI-driven trading bots manage $15B in crypto assets 2023
05
Average latency for HFT firms is under 1 microsecond
06
70% of retail traders use MetaTrader 4/5 platforms
07
Blockchain DEX volume grew 200% to $1T in 2023
08
Cloud-based trading platforms adopted by 55% institutions 2023
09
85% of options trades via automated order routing
10
Quantum computing pilots in trading by 10 firms in 2023
11
Social trading platforms have 20M users globally 2023
12
API trading volume up 300% post-2020 for retail
13
60% of futures trades on CME Globex electronic platform
14
Sentiment analysis tools used by 45% hedge funds 2023
15
Mobile orders 40% of total retail equity trades 2023
16
Dark pool trading 15-20% of US equity volume 2023
17
Python used by 70% of algo traders per survey
18
5G networks reduce trading latency by 50% for mobile HFT
19
Robo-advisors manage $1.5T AUM globally 2023
20
NFT trading bots process 1M tx daily on OpenSea
21
Machine learning models improve returns by 3-5% in backtests
22
Copy trading volumes $500B annually across platforms
23
FPGA hardware accelerates HFT by 10x vs CPU
24
50% growth in API integrations for retail brokers 2023
25
VR/AR trading simulations adopted by 15% training programs
Interpretation
Technology And Tools Interpretation
Technology is driving trading at scale, with 95% of forex trades executed electronically in 2023 and algorithmic trading reaching 60 to 73% of US equity volume.
05 · Category
Technology And Tools, Source Url: Https://www.nasdaq.com/solutions/co Location1 stats
01
Co-location services used by 80% top HFT firms, category: Technology and Tools
Interpretation
Technology And Tools, Source Url: Https://www.nasdaq.com/solutions/co Location Interpretation
With 80% of top HFT firms relying on co-location services, the Technology and Tools landscape is clearly being driven by proximity focused infrastructure that helps firms minimize latency.
06 · Category
Trader Demographics27 stats
01
72% of individual investors in the US are millennials or Gen Z as of 2023
02
Women represent 25% of active day traders in forex markets globally in 2023
03
Average age of retail stock traders in India is 32 years old in 2023
04
58% of crypto traders worldwide are under 35 years old per 2023 survey
05
High-frequency traders account for 50% of US equity volume but are 1% of traders in 2023
06
40% of UK retail investors started trading post-2020 pandemic
07
Retail traders make up 25% of forex market participants in 2023
08
67% of day traders in the US have college degrees per 2023 data
09
Asian traders dominate crypto markets with 50% share in 2023
10
Average retail trader holds positions for less than 1 day in equities
11
55% of Robinhood users are male aged 18-40 in 2023
12
Professional traders comprise 10% of forex volume but 90% of profits in 2023
13
30% of EU retail traders are women, up from 20% in 2019
14
Gen Z represents 28% of new brokerage account openings in 2023
15
45% of crypto investors have no formal finance education in 2023
16
Full-time day traders average 5-10 years experience in US markets
17
62% of Brazilian retail traders are under 40 per B3 data 2023
18
Institutional investors control 80% of futures trading volume
19
35% of day traders use social media for signals per 2023 survey
20
Average retail trader in Australia has $50,000portfolio in 2023
21
50% of forex traders are from Europe per broker data 2023
22
20% of stock traders are institutional vs 80% retail in emerging markets
23
Hispanic Americans are 15% of new US traders in 2023
24
70% of options traders are experienced with over 5 years
25
Retail share of crypto trading volume is 40% in 2023
26
Average day trader income is $80,000annually in US 2023
27
90% of active traders lose money over 12 months per ESMA study
Interpretation
Trader Demographics Interpretation
From a Trader Demographics perspective, the trading population is becoming much younger with 58% of crypto traders under 35 and 72% of US individual investors being millennials or Gen Z as of 2023.
Reference
Cite This Report
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APA
David Sutherland. (2026, February 13). Trading Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/trading-statistics
MLA
David Sutherland. "Trading Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/trading-statistics.
Chicago
David Sutherland. 2026. "Trading Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/trading-statistics.
Sources & references
92 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level