Washington, D.C.—FIA today released summary statistics for annual trading activity in the global exchange-traded derivatives markets that showed record activity in 2018.
The number of futures and options that changed hands on exchanges around the world rose 20.2% to 30.28 billion contracts, an all-time record. Futures volume rose 15.6% to 17.15 billion contracts, while options volume rose 26.8% to 13.13 billion contracts.
"The rapid growth in derivatives trading on exchanges around the world highlights the value that these products continue to provide for end-users and investors," said Walt Lukken, President and Chief Executive Officer, FIA.
Highlights
- Derivatives trading on exchanges in 2018 hit a record level of 30.28 billion contracts
- Growth rate of 20.2% in 2018 was the fastest since 2010, led by Asia-Pacific and Latin America
- Exchanges in the Asia-Pacific and Latin American regions grew the most rapidly
- Equity index and currency categories showed the strongest growth
- Interest rate category continues to set records
- Year-end open interest declined 1.4% to 827.6 million contracts
- More detailed breakdown to be presented in Feb. 6 webinar
Regional breakdown
The overall rate of growth was the highest since 2010, when rapid growth in Asia-Pacific and Latin America combined with a recovery in the North American interest-rate sector to produce a growth rate of 26.4%.
Looking at regional trends, exchanges in the Asia-Pacific and Latin American regions grew the most rapidly in 2018. Asia-Pacific exchange volume rose 27.1% to 11.19 billion contracts, while Latin American exchange volume grew 40.8% to 2.78 billion contracts.
Volume on North American exchanges rose 18.8% to 10.56 billion contracts, equivalent to 34.9% of worldwide volume. Volume on European exchanges rose 6.7% to 5.27 billion contracts, equivalent to 17.4% of worldwide volume.
Category breakdown
Trading of equity index futures and options was one of the main drivers for the overall increase in trading in 2018. Global equity index volume jumped 32.8% to 9.98 billion contracts, with exchanges in India, North America, Brazil and Korea accounting for most of that increase.
Currency futures and options rose 31.7% to a record amount of 3.93 billion contracts, driven mainly by higher levels of trading on exchanges in India, Brazil and Argentina.
Interest rate trading, which is concentrated on North American and European exchanges, rose 14.8% to a record amount of 4.55 billion contracts. This was the third straight year that interest rate trading hit a record. Non-precious metals volume was down 12.5% to 1.52 billion.
Overall open interest declined slightly except in Europe, where year-end open interest rose 9% to 212.1 million contracts. Asia-Pacific exchanges, despite having high levels of volume, had only 67.8 million contracts in open interest outstanding at year-end, equivalent to just 8.2% of global open interest. Open interest on North American exchanges was 455.3 million contracts at year-end, more than half of all exchange-traded derivatives outstanding worldwide.
Webinar info
FIA will hold a webinar on Feb. 6 to provide more information about the trends in futures and options trading. Click here to register.
FIA's statistics on volume and open interest are collected from 82 exchanges operated by 53 companies in 35 countries. The statistics are based on the number of contracts traded and/or cleared on these exchanges and have been adjusted to avoid double counting.
FIA also publishes statistics on trading activity on swap execution facilities and customer funds held at futures commission merchants in the U.S. To access these statistics, visit our industry data page.
For more information, contact Will Acworth at +1 202.466.5460.
