60% surge from 2022 drives 11.8% global share; Asian time-zone liquidity key to growth.

Record FX Volume and Global Ranking

Singapore's foreign exchange average daily trading volume (ADTV) reached US$1.485 trillion in April 2025, a 60% increase from US$929 billion in April 2022, according to data released by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on 1 October 2025. The figure, drawn from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Triennial Central Bank Survey covering 82 financial institutions in Singapore, lifted the city-state's share of global FX volumes to 11.8% in 2025, up from 9.5% three years earlier. Singapore retained its position as the third-largest FX centre globally, behind only the United Kingdom and the United States, and widened its lead as Asia's largest FX hub.

Average Daily Volume (USD bn) (USD bn)Source: Orionmano Industries

The April 2025 survey captured a period of heightened market volatility amid tariff developments, with over 1,100 banks across more than 50 jurisdictions participating globally. The 60% growth rate more than doubled the global average, underscoring Singapore's disproportionate gain in market share.

Drivers: Broad-Based Growth and Asian Time-Zone Liquidity

The growth was broad-based across major currencies. The US dollar, Japanese yen, and euro registered trading volume increases of between 36% and 65% from 2022 to 2025, according to MAS data. Volumes in the Chinese renminbi and Australian dollar also rose. Notably, more Japanese yen and Australian dollars are now traded in Singapore than in Japan or Australia, reflecting the city-state's role as the primary liquidity hub for these currencies in the Asian time zone.

Lim Cheng Khai, Executive Director of MAS' Financial Markets Development Department, said: "Singapore's FX volumes saw strong growth, driven by deeper liquidity in the Asian time-zone to support economic and hedging needs in the region. Broad-based growth across major and regional currencies, as well as FX instruments, reflects Singapore's continued role as a trusted and efficient price discovery hub. This reinforces Singapore's position as a gateway for global investors into Asia's fast-evolving economies and financial markets."

FX spot, forwards, and swaps — which together accounted for 90% of Singapore's turnover — rose by between 42% and 61% from 2022 to 2025. The US dollar remained dominant, appearing on one side of 89.2% of all FX trades globally in April 2025, up from 88.4% in the previous triennial survey, despite ongoing discussions around de-dollarisation.

The surge in volumes comes as Asian corporates and financial institutions increasingly trade and hedge within their own time zone rather than routing through London or New York. Singapore's position as a regional treasury and trading hub for global banks — all of the top five global banks maintain regional FX sales and trading teams in the city-state — underpins this liquidity deepening.

Market Structure: Instruments, Counterparties, and Currency Pairs

Non-derivative instruments — spot, forwards, and swaps — made up approximately 90% of Singapore's daily turnover in April 2025, according to the semi-annual survey conducted by the Singapore Foreign Exchange Market Committee (SFXMC). Derivatives such as options and currency swaps accounted for approximately US$133.3 billion, or a 10.5% share of daily turnover.

Looking at specific currency pairs, the SFXMC semi-annual survey data indicates that in October 2024 EUR/USD was the most traded pair at US$239.8 billion daily, followed by USD/CAD at US$157.4 billion, and USD/JPY at US$132.36 billion. By April 2025, USD/JPY monthly turnover had reached US$5.7 trillion, with 61.3% of that total coming from FX swaps, which remain the most popular vehicle for forex trading in Singapore. The pair's performance has been consistent, having also ranked first in the October 2024 survey with US$6 trillion in monthly turnover.

The dominance of FX swaps reflects Singapore's role as a hub for cross-border capital flows, with banks, asset managers, and corporates using swaps for funding and hedging purposes. The April 2025 SFXMC survey recorded total daily trading volume of derivative and non-derivative forex transactions at US$1.273 trillion, representing a 14.2% year-over-year increase in traditional forex volumes and a 17.3% increase in overall FX market turnover compared to April 2024.

Outlook

Continued growth is expected as Singapore deepens Asian time-zone liquidity and attracts more global investors seeking exposure to Asian economies. The 2025 BIS survey data, published in October, captures market conditions during the tariff-related volatility that characterised much of early 2025. Should trade tensions persist, elevated hedging demand may sustain high turnover levels. Singapore's infrastructure as a price discovery and execution hub for Asian currencies — including the renminbi, yen, and Australian dollar — positions it to capture a growing share of global FX flows irrespective of the direction of trade policy.