What Percentage of Forex and CFD Traders Lose Money? 2026 Data
Regulated CFD providers in the UK and EU have to tell you how many of their retail clients lose money. The number sits in a risk warning at the top or bottom of every page. We collected it from 49 providers so you can see how they compare.
Key findings
All figures checked on 3 November 2026.
- At the typical provider, 73% of retail CFD accounts lose money. That is the median of 49 regulated providers in the UK and EU. The average is 70.9%.
- 29 of the 49 providers (59%) now report a figure below 74%, the bottom of the range ESMA reported in 2018.
- The figures range from 54.4% at the lowest to 84% at the highest.
- UK providers report a median of 69%. Providers licensed in Cyprus, where many of Europe's online brokers are based, report 74%.
- Brands with companies in more than one country often publish different figures for each. Within one brand, the gap reaches 23.8 percentage points.
How the figures are spread
Most providers sit between 65% and 80%. 5 report that fewer than 60% of their retail clients lose money, and 4 report 80% or more.
Source: risk warnings on the providers' own websites, checked 3 November 2026. 49 providers.
UK, Cyprus and the rest of the EU
A large part of Europe's online brokerage industry is licensed in Cyprus and serves clients across the EU from there. In our data, those providers report a higher median than providers licensed in the UK or in other EU countries.
Source: providers' own risk warnings, checked 3 November 2026. Number of providers in brackets.
How this compares with 2018
When ESMA, the EU's securities regulator, restricted CFDs for retail clients in 2018, it said that 74% to 89% of retail accounts typically lose money. The same rules capped leverage, made providers close out a client's positions once their margin falls to half of what is required, protected clients from losing more than they deposited, and required every provider to publish its own loss figure.
Today, 59% of the providers in our data report less than 74%. The two numbers are not measured in exactly the same way, because ESMA looked across the market and each provider counts only its own clients. Still, the direction is clear. At most providers, a smaller share of retail clients loses money than when the rules came in.
One brand, several figures
The figure in a risk warning belongs to a company, not a brand. Many brokers run separate companies in the UK, Cyprus and other EU countries, and each one reports its own number. 13 brands in our data publish more than one figure, and the biggest difference within a single brand is 23.8 percentage points.
If you are comparing brokers, look at the figure on the website for your own country. That is the company you would actually open an account with.
How we collected the data
We included providers authorised in the UK or the EU that offer CFDs to retail clients. For each one, we opened the provider's own website in a browser on 3 November 2026, read the risk warning and noted the company named on the same page. We did not use figures from review or comparison sites.
Some providers could not be included. A few UK websites redirect visitors from other countries to an EU site, some show only a range instead of a single number, and some pages did not make clear which company a figure belonged to. We left those out rather than guess.
Providers update their figure every quarter, so a number may have changed since our check. The study covers many of the largest providers but not every authorised firm, so read it as a snapshot of the market rather than a complete count. We plan to repeat it every quarter.
This page describes the industry and is not investment advice. Acquipayer helps regulated brokers find payment providers. Read more about payment processing for forex and CFD brokers and Visa account funding transactions for brokers.
Common questions
What percentage of forex and CFD traders lose money?
It depends on the provider. Across the 49 regulated UK and EU providers we checked in November 2026, the median was 73%. The lowest figure was 54.4% and the highest 84%.
Where does the percentage on a broker's website come from?
Since 2018, every provider that sells CFDs to retail clients in the EU has had to publish the share of its own retail accounts that lost money over the last 12 months. The UK has the same rule. Providers update the number every quarter.
Are fewer traders losing money than before?
At most providers, yes. When ESMA brought in its CFD rules in 2018, it reported that 74% to 89% of retail accounts typically lost money. In our data, 29 of 49 providers now report less than 74%.
Why does the same broker show different numbers?
The number belongs to a company, not a brand. A broker with separate companies in the UK, Cyprus and Germany has different clients in each, so each company reports its own figure.
Can I use this data?
Yes. The full dataset, with every provider, its regulator and the page we read the figure from, is free to download as a CSV. Please credit Acquipayer and link to this page.
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