- Surge in options trading on Indian exchanges main contributor to global increase
- Interest rate futures and options volume rose 18% to 6.1 billion contracts
- Global futures and options open interest reaches record 1.25 billion contracts at end 2023
- Open interest in interest rate futures and options rises 42% to 212 million contracts at end 2023
- Double-digit increases in volume and open interest in most commodity markets
Washington, DC — FIA today released statistics on the number of futures and options traded on exchanges worldwide in 2023.
The total volume of trading reached 137.3 billion contracts in 2023, up 64% from the previous year. This was the sixth consecutive year of record-setting trading activity in the global listed derivatives markets.
Trading volume in most parts of the world grew only slightly compared to the previous year. The exception was India, which saw an extraordinarily rapid growth in the trading of equity index options.
The number of equity index options traded on Indian exchanges reached 84.3 billion contracts in 2023, up 153% from 2022. That helped push the total number of options traded worldwide to 108.2 billion in 2023, up 98% from the previous year.
Total futures volume was 29.1 billion contracts, roughly the same as the previous year. Increases in futures trading in China and the UK offset declines in Brazil and Turkey.
Open interest, which measures the number of outstanding contracts at a point in time, stood at a record level of 1.25 billion contracts at year-end, up 15% at year-end 2022. Open interest in options rose 18% to 955 million contracts, and open interest in futures rose 8% to 298 million contracts.
FIA’s statistics on volume and open interest are collected from 89 exchanges and clearinghouses operated by 54 companies in 34 countries. The statistics are based on the number of contracts traded and/or cleared on these exchanges and clearinghouses and are adjusted to avoid double counting.
FIA will hold a webinar on 31 January to provide a more detailed look at the trends in futures and options trading.
Breakdown of Volume and Open Interest by Region
The Asia-Pacific region had the largest increase in trading in 2023. Total volume in that region reached 103.5 billion contracts, up 104% from the previous year, with India being the most important driver of that growth.
North America, the second largest region in terms of trading volume, had 17.9 billion futures and options contracts traded in 2020, up 6.2% from the previous year.
Latin America was the third largest, with total trading volume reaching 8.6 billion contracts, roughly unchanged from the previous year.
European volume rose 2.6% to 4.9 billion contracts, while volume on exchanges in the Middle East and Africa fell almost 20% to 2.4 billion contracts.
Turning to open interest, North America led the way, with 648 million futures and options outstanding at the end of the year, up 41 million contracts or 6.8% from the end of 2022. North America accounted for 52% of the total open interest worldwide.
Open interest in Europe stood at 242 million contracts at year-end, up 18% from December 2020, and equivalent to 19% of global open interest.
Latin America had the largest increase in open interest in both absolute and relative terms. Total open interest at exchanges in the region reached 206 million contracts at year-end, up 75 million contracts or 57% from the end of 2022.
Asia-Pacific open interest stood at 123 million contracts at year-end, up 18 million contracts or 17% from the previous year. Although the Asia-Pacific region accounted for the majority of the global trading volume, APAC exchanges accounted for only 10% of global open interest.
Breakdown by Asset Class
Equity-related derivatives accounted for the overwhelming majority of the increase in trading activity in 2023. The total number of futures and options based on equity indices, which includes contracts based on exchange-traded funds, reached 99.9 billion contracts in 2023, an increase of 105% from 2022. Single-stock futures and options volume declined 4.8% to 12.6 billion contracts.
Currency futures and options, the second largest asset class by volume, dropped 8% to 7.1 billion contracts. That was mainly due to a 21% decline in the trading of currency futures.
Trading of interest rate futures and options jumped 935 million contracts or 18% to an annual total of 6.1 billion contracts. Within that asset class, trading of futures rose 611 million contracts or 14% to 4.9 billion contracts, while trading of options rose 324 million contracts or 39% to 1.15 billion contracts.
In the commodity sector, agricultural futures and options trading volume jumped 31% to 3.2 billion contracts. Energy futures and options trading volume jumped 34% to 2.8 billion contracts. Precious metals futures and options trading volume jumped 27% to 716 million contracts. Trading in other commodities such as chemicals and plastics jumped 29% to 3.2 billion contracts, mainly due to increased trading on Chinese exchanges.
Nearly every asset class saw a substantial increase in outstanding contracts over the course of 2023. Open interest in futures and options based on individual equities rose 5.6% to 540 million contracts outstanding at year-end. Equity index futures and options open interest rose 17% to 311 million contracts.
Interest rate futures and options open interest jumped 42% to 212 million contracts. And energy futures and options open interest rose 21% to 79 million contracts.
Exchange Rankings
The National Stock Exchange of India led the way in terms of both total volume and rate of growth, thanks to the explosive growth of its options complex. The exchange reported total trading volume of 84.8 billion contracts in 2023, up 123% compared to the amount traded in the previous year.
Brazil’s B3 ranked as the second largest exchange by volume, with total trading volume reaching 8.3 billion contracts, unchanged from 2022.
CME Group came in third, with total volume of 6.1 billion contracts traded in 2023, up 4.3% from the previous year.
India’s BSE was fourth, with total volume of 5.9 billion contracts in 2023, up 265% from the previous year. More than 99% of its volume in 2023 came from equity index options.
Cboe Global Markets was fifth, with 3.71 billion contracts traded across seven trading venues. Intercontinental Exchange was sixth, with 3.65 billion contracts traded across seven trading venues.
The OCC continued to rank as the world’s largest clearinghouse for derivatives in terms of open interest. The OCC, which provides clearing for more than a dozen trading venues in the US, reported 482.8 million contracts in open interest at year-end, up 5.5% from December 2022, and more than twice as many as any other derivatives clearinghouse.
Brazil’s B3 was the second largest in terms of open interest, with 203.6 million futures and options outstanding at the end of 2023, up 61.5% from the end of 2022. Eurex Clearing was third with 115.3 million futures and options outstanding at the end of 2023, down 5% from the end of 2022. CME Group was fourth with 105 million contracts in open interest at the end of 2023, up 8% from the end of 2022.
