There was no surprise when the BIS announced their latest results for global FX volumes for 2013. Despite, the world economy facing a miserable aftermath from the 2008 credit crisis, FX as an asset class has served well. Total daily trading volumes are averaging $5.345 trillion according to the study published today, a 30% increase from three years earlier.

Key points:

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• FX swaps most popular asset class $2.2. trillion of ADV.
• US dollar most popular currency pair, 87% of all trades.
• Emerging market currencies on the rise, Mexican peso and Chinese yuan enter top 10 most traded currency pairs

The sharp rise in FX activity is attributed to several factors including; market volatility, acceptance of FX as an asset class and global distribution of the product. Cyril Tabet, Partner & CEO at JFD Brokers, believes the quality of the end product will have a direct impact on volumes, and explained in a comment to Forex Magnates: “Sustaining high standards in technology, execution, transparency, and support have proven to significantly drive volumes up.”

The 2013 BIS survey is a three-year study on the trading metrics of Foreign Exchange derivatives. The organisation that has been operating since the 1930’s sits as a central body for the worlds central banks. According to the BIS’s  US section on its website, it describes the organisation as one that; ‘fosters international monetary and financial cooperation and serves as a bank for central banks’. The BIS has been actively conducting the triennial FX survey since 1989. In the current survey the BIS has surveyed organisations from 53 jurisdictions.