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CFD trading statistics

Interest in CFD trading has soared by 193% in 2020. However, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) analysis has revealed 82% of CFD customers lose money.

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CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Between 67%-79.8% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

CFD stands for “contracts for difference” and this type of trading allows you to trade on the price movements of financial instruments such as shares, indices, commodities and currencies. We’ve dived into the latest statistics to give you the rundown on the CFD market.

Quick overview

  • Almost 280,000 customers traded CFD products each month in 2017.
  • There are 100 different FCA-authorised specialist CFD providers.
  • FCA analysis revealed that 82% of CFD customers lose money.
  • The average loss when trading these products is £2,200.
  • New FCA regulations are predicted to save consumers between £267 million and £451 million per year.

CFD providers

We looked into the latest statistics to see how many providers of CFD trading there are and just how many customers are using them.

  • In 2018, there were around 100 FCA-authorised specialist CFD providers.
  • There were over 800,000 CFD-funded retail client accounts in 2018.
  • On average, 279,000 retail client accounts traded CFDs each month in 2017.
  • The sum value of holdings in these accounts is over £1.5 billion.

CFD trading interest

We looked into how Brits’ interest in CFD trading has changed over time.

  • Search interest for CFD trading reached all-time highs in 2020.
  • In 2020, the average search interest in “CFD trading” was up 193% in comparison to 2019
  • There is now over 4x more search interest in CFD trading than there was in 2015
  • Search interest is predicted to continue to increase over 2021.

FCA report: 82% lose money

The FCA published regulations relating to the CFD market. This was after research suggested that over 80% of CFD clients lose money when trading these products.

  • FCA analysis revealed that 82% of CFD clients lose money.
  • The average loss amounts to £2,200 when trading these products.
  • FCA measures are expected to save retail consumers between £267 million and £451 million per year.

Sources Used

Click here for more research. For all media enquiries, please contact:

Matt Mckenna
UK Communications Manager
T: +44 20 8191 8806
matt.mckenna@finder.com@MichHutchison/in/matthewmckenna2

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