Derivatives trading volume decrease in 2025: WFE data

The WFE on Friday published new data which showed that the number of exchange-traded derivatives contracts in 2025 amounted to 63.51 billion for options and 30.24 billion for futures. Overall, this represents a 47.1% decline compared to 2024.

This was driven by options, which declined 57.1% and account for 68% of total derivatives contracts traded.

The futures contracts volume had a 4% year-on-year increase in 2025.

Chart 1: Derivatives total volumes

Source: WEF

Options volume, which had steady growth between January 2021 till November 2024, saw a drastic drop in trading volume (see chart 1). WFE attributes the fall in trading volume to a significant decline in currency options on National Stock Exchange of India (NSE).

Chart 2: Volumes of exchange-traded derivatives, by region

Source: WFE

Geographically, the Americas and the EMEA hit a peak in 2025. The Americas’ trading volume amounted to 35.70 billion contracts, a 13.2% year-over-year increase. EMEA traded 7.27 billion contracts in 2025, a 21.4% year-over-year increase.

By contrast, volumes in the APAC region plummeted 63.7% to 50.79 billion contracts traded (see chart 2).

The trade body said that the NSE was the main contributor to the steady increase in derivative volumes in APAC markets until towards the end of 2024.

Equity derivatives trading reached a new high in both the Americas and EMEA regions, interest rate derivatives recorded their highest level in APAC and EMEA regions, the data shows.

The volumes of commodity, interest rate and ETF derivatives increased, while equity and currency derivatives witnessed decline of 58.4% and 29.6%, respectively.

Stock index options are by far the most traded ( 38.7% share) of derivatives contracts with 88.9% being traded on the NSE (see chart 3). The same exchange accounts for 43.4% of the currency options market.

Chart 3: Share of stock index options volume by exchange

Source: WFE

Some of the top stock index options contracts traded in 2025 include Nifty 50, Nifty Bank, Options On Ibovespa, S&P 500 Index, E-Mini S&P 500 Options and Opt On Euro STOXX 50.

Interest rate options performance is mostly due to the CME Group, which accounts for a 60.8% share of global volumes. The same exchange accounts for a 49.5% share of global volumes of interest rate futures.

In terms of interest rate derivatives, short-term (STIR) derivatives declined 4.1% year-on-year, while long-term (LTIR) derivatives volumes increased 5.7%. STIR options and STIR futures declined 6.1% and 3.3%, respectively, while LTIR options and LTIR futures went up 9.1% and 5.2%, respectively.

In terms of commodity derivatives, index commodity derivatives decreased 23.7% year-on-year.

Agriculture, energy, precious metals, non-precious metals and other commodity derivatives trading volume increased in 2025.

“Going forward, geopolitical turbulence and economic tensions will remain key drivers of capital markets, with uncertainty around the U.S. administration policies continuing to shape business and investor sentiment. Elevated public debt and trade fragmentation also remain important concerns," said Pedro Gurrola-Perez, head of research at WFE.

Global growth in 2026 is expected to hover around 3.1%–3.6%, largely driven by AI investment and more accommodative monetary policies, though questions persist about the long-term sustainability of the AI-investment surg

The WFE released a research paper titled ‘Extending Exchange Trading Hours’ last week, where it called for coordination across trading, clearing, settlement, and regulatory systems to fully realise the benefits of extended trading hours across the exchanges.