Retail trading is the hobby of choice for a significant number of UK residents. In this report, we examine the state of retail market participation in the UK, how non-professional traders are safeguarded against excessive risks, and the trends that can be observed in the trading and investment sphere. We will also cover instruments such as CFDs, equities, and other key retail-accessible markets that UK-based traders are drawn to.
Retail trading refers to the market activity conducted by individuals who are not designated as professionals and utilise their personal capital to trade through online platforms. It contrasts institutional trading, which is carried out by institutions like hedge funds and banks, and professional trading, which is the career of choice for individuals who meet the professional status criteria of the UK’s financial regulator.
The aforementioned watchdog is the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Its responsibilities include maintaining a fair trading environment, issuing licenses to eligible broking firms, and ensuring brokers have implemented measures to protect retail traders from the potential pitfalls of high-risk markets.
Regulatory Oversight of Retail Trading in the UK
The UK boasts one of the most robust regulatory frameworks when it comes to its trading and investment sphere. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is the region’s regulatory body, and it was established in 2013 when it replaced the now-defunct Financial Services Authority. The FCA is in charge of overseeing the UK’s financial sector and the conduct of entities that offer trading services to UK residents.
In 2019, the FCA followed in the footsteps of the European Union and introduced official restrictions on high-risk trading products such as contracts for difference (CFDs). The said rules generally mirror the framework of Europe’s Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (MiFID II).
One of the key pieces of legislation concerns leveraged trading through CFDs. Leverage allows users to trade with borrowed money and thus risk losing significant amounts of money that can exceed their starting capital. With this in mind, the following leverage caps are currently in force:
| Instrument | Maximum Leverage |
|---|---|
| Forex Majors | 1:30 |
| Forex Minors | 1:20 |
| Indices | 1:20 |
| Gold | 1:20 |
| Commodities (excluding gold) | 1:10 |
| Shares | 1:5 |
| Cryptocurrencies* | 1:2 |
* Retail traders do not have access to cryptocurrency CFDs in the UK
Apart from leverage, mandatory negative balance protection is another notable safeguard. It prevents a given trader’s balance from dropping below £0, and brokers are required to offer this service to their retail clients in particular. Seasoned traders usually waive their rights to negative balance protection once they achieve professional status, since they are considered knowledgeable and experienced enough to shoulder the risks associated with CFDs.
The FCA also demands that brokerages provide standardised risk warnings on their websites. They must stress the high-risk nature of CFDs and include the percentage of retail trader accounts that suffer losses when trading such contracts. The said percentage must include the trading costs of clients (fees, commissions, etc.) and be calculated every three months, with data spanning 12 months in total.
Another measure dictates that firms that enable spread betting and the trading of forex and other markets not offer bonuses and promotions to their clients.
The introduction of the FCA Consumer Duty in 2023 represented another significant addition to the UK’s regulatory framework. As per this piece of legislation, firms providing financial services are required to demonstrate that they provide a fair trading environment to their clients.
The FCA’s scrutiny also includes the issuing of warnings against firms that fail to meet its standards or target UK traders without having obtained the necessary licensing. Additionally, the FCA has also highlighted the protections that retail traders lose when they trade with offshore broking firms.
In a press release issued in October 2025, the watchdog highlighted that nearly 400,000 CFD traders per year are prevented from losing more than their original stake thanks to negative balance protection. According to estimates, this translates to protected funds in the ballpark of £267 million to £451 million.
Size and Participation in UK Trading Markets
The UK is among the major financial hubs of the global trading sphere and occupies a unique position in financial markets. It ranks first in terms of its over-the-counter trading volume, with its daily averages hitting $4,745 billion (£3,490 billion) in April 2025 according to data gathered by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). Overall, the UK accounts for 37.8% of global FX turnover. While the vast majority of this activity is institutional, a portion of these figures is the result of trading activity by UK-based retail market participants.
OTC FX Turnover by Country (in billions USD)
Data Source: BIS
The UK’s figures also showcased significant growth over the past decade or so. The daily turnover has more than doubled since 2013, when it stood at $2,276 billion (£1,674).
UK OTC FX Turnover (in billions USD)
Data Source: BIS
Market Participation
In terms of retail trader participation across platforms offering leveraged trading, data gathered by research firm Investment Trends shows that the number of retail leverage traders in the UK stood at 167,000 in May 2025. This marked a 3% slip from 2023-24’s 173,000 individuals, the latest in a string of declines that saw the figure drop from the 275,000 reported in May 2021.
The State of UK Retail Trading: Research and Statistics Tables
Data Source: Investment Trends
Investment Trends’ report also highlighted the dormancy rates, i.e., the number of individuals who used to be traders but had not placed a trade from May 2024 to May 2025. According to the data, inactivity fell to 49,000, which translates to an 18.4% drop from the previous report’s estimates. Moreover, despite the smaller number of participants, it has been noted that individuals who were either novices or continued trading did so more frequently.
Trading and Investment Activity Across Instruments
The FCA’s Financial Lives Survey 2024 provides a broader picture of retail participation across financial products. The data showcases that nearly 40% of UK residents held investments in May 2024, either directly or through platforms. Equities were the most common form of retail market participation (20%), while stocks and equities held in individual savings accounts (ISAs) specifically were second, with the percentage being 17%. CFDs, meanwhile, ranked far lower at 0.7%.
Investment Products Held (2017-2024)
Data Source: FCA
High-risk investments in general lagged behind with the total percentage standing at 8.4%. This figure was also lower than what was estimated in the 2022 FCA survey, when high-risk investments accounted for 11% of the retail market.
Investment Products Held (2022-2024)
Data Source: FCA
It is also worth noting that despite equities’ dominance across retail UK markets, the past decade has seen major outflows from UK equities in particular, as reported by the Financial Times. The year 2025 alone witnessed over £11 billion in outflows. Interest in US equities, meanwhile, appears to be substantial, with broking firm CMC Markets observing that a notable portion of its UK retail clients’ portfolios focused on US stocks like Amazon and Apple in 2024. Furthermore, 45% of all trading activity in the broking firm’s UK entity took place at around the open and closing hours of US markets.
Instruments such as cryptocurrencies, forex, and CFDs enjoyed notable trading activity across non-advised platforms and trading apps in particular. Further in this report, we will provide an overview of the FCA’s findings on trading app data and trader behaviour.
UK Trader and Investor Demographics
In terms of total retail investment participation, 2023 saw 39% of adults residing in the UK partake in investing based on IA & Ipsos survey data included in the UK Retail Market report 2023, which was published by The Investment Association.
As shown in The Investment Association’s research, retail investors are generally younger than the general population. Approximately 42% of investors are aged 18-35, compared with 35% of UK adults overall. In terms of gender, 63% of investors were male and 37% female according to survey results.
Retial Investor Breakdown by Age
Data Source: The Investment Association
Retial Investor Breakdown by Gender
Data Source: The Investment Association
Behavior of Market Participants
The FCA has also found that high-risk products generally enjoy the most popularity among younger market participants. According to a survey carried out by the regulatory body in 2024, almost half of investors reported having crypto exposure. In addition to an interest in speculative products, the authority also noted a tendency among young traders who make hasty investment decisions, with 66% of investors aged 18-40 deciding whether to trade or invest in a given asset within 24 hours. Around 14% of respondents report taking less than an hour to reach a decision.
A reliance on social media trends was another factor included in the FCA’s research. In total, 85% of young investors claimed to rely on social media platforms (Instagram, TikTok, YouTube) when participating in financial markets, and close to half of the respondents utilise social media for most of their research.
Despite the above, younger market participants are not exclusively speculative: many also hold funds, equities, and stocks and shares ISAs. Data published in 2025 from Capital.com relating to its users suggests that diversification is generally common across age groups: approximately 79% of non-professional UK clients aged 18-29 trade at least two markets, and the figure edges to 83% when it comes to clients aged 62 or older. What is more, a mere 1.7% of retail traders have suffered margin calls in May 2025.
The brokerage also highlighted where the majority of its UK clients are based. According to the data, London alone accounts for 34% of traders.
| Capital.com Clients | |
|---|---|
| Location | Percentage of Traders |
| London | 34% |
| South East | 11.70% |
| North West | 9.90% |
| West Midlands | 9.00% |
| Elsewhere | 64.6 |
Data Source: Capital.com
Additional data from a survey conducted by CMC Markets showcases that a large number of non-professionals in the UK (24%), aim to turn trading into a career. Nearly 50%, on the other hand, stated that trading served as a source of additional income. Under 30%, meanwhile, see trading as a hobby.
Risks Associated with Retail Trading in the UK
Forex and CFD trading occupy a controversial position within UK retail markets due to consistently poor outcomes for the majority of participants. Most brokerages report that the majority of their CFD retail accounts lose money, with rates standing at around 60%, 70%, and in some cases, placing closer to 75% or even higher.
The leveraged trading sector’s high-risk profile was further highlighted by a recent report courtesy of brokerage firm Capital.com. It revealed that as of May 2025, 29% of its UK-based retail clients achieved a positive realised P and L, which made UK traders the most profitable among its non-professional user base.
The primary drivers of losses include short-term trading strategies that do not focus on risk mitigation, along with behavioural biases such as overconfidence and the chasing of losses. Slippage and margin calls are other potential disadvantages of retail trading, and CFDs amplify all of these challenges through their enabling of leveraged trading.
It should also be stressed that the FCA has spoken out against another factor that contributes toward losses, i.e. the so-called “finfluencers.” This refers to social media influencers who do not disclose their affiliations with the offshore trading brands that they promote and encourage high-risk trading by advertising unrealistic returns from copy trading and investing. The regulator also highlighted one example where more than 90,000 retail clients who traded with such a promoted entity lost £75 million over the course of 4 years.
Online and Mobile Trading Among Retail Clients
Data indicates that the adoption of online investment platforms nearly doubled between 2020 and 2024. By May 2024, approximately 7.9 million UK adults, representing 15% of the population, engaged with these digital services. This expansion was partially propelled by non-advised platforms, which allow individuals to manage their portfolios without formal financial guidance.
Platform Use
Data Source: FCA
Within this shift toward digital platforms, dedicated trading apps have carved out a specific niche and are utilised by roughly 1.6 million people, or 3% of the UK’s population in 2024. As per FinTech Global Research data, the total number of retail trading app downloads hit 15.1 million just a year prior.
The demographic profile of these users leans heavily toward a younger, male audience; nearly half of app users are aged 18 to 34. While stocks and shares figures were consistent with overall trading statistics and made up the majority of assets traded by clients of non-advised investment platforms, it is evident that trading apps have become a central hub for high-volatility assets. The breakdown of alternative asset activity among app users over a 12-month period includes:
- Cryptocurrencies: 20% of users engaged in buying or selling digital assets.
- Foreign Exchange (Forex): 8% utilised apps for currency trading.
- Contracts for Difference (CFDs): 6% traded these derivative products.
- Fractional Shares: Notably, 31% of users traded portions of shares.
Investment Products Bought or Sold on Non-Advised Investment Platforms
Data Source: FCA
The FCA also examined participation in social trading, particularly the practices of copy or mirror trading, which involve replicating the strategies of experienced investors through a dedicated platform. In total, 11% of trading app clients utilised such a service.
The asset group of crypto, forex, CFDs, and commodities represented 10% of the instruments chosen by traders at any non-advised platforms, while the figure was 3% for users trading at consumer investment platforms. Trading on apps, meanwhile, saw these high-risk instruments make up 28% of trading activity.
Non-Advised and Mobile Trading Demographics
The demographic breakdown, meanwhile, showed that 11% of clients who partook in trading FX, commodities, CFDs, and cryptoassets were male, while 5% were female. Traders aged 18–34 were the primary audience, while individuals whose income was less than or exceeded £50,000 each represented 10% of users.
Gender Breakdown of Users Who Traded FX/Commodities, Cryptoassets, or CFDs (Non-advised platforms)
Data Source: FCA
Age Breakdown of Users Who Traded FX/Commodities, Cryptoassets, or CFDs (Non-advised platforms)
Data Source: FCA
Digital Engagement Practices and Their Impact on Traders
Finally, the FCA has also examined digital engagement practices. Known as DEPs, these are features including, but not limited to, push notifications and prize draws that influence the trading behaviour of broking firm clients. As per data provided by the regulator, medium and high DEP groups are typically younger.
Age of Market Participants
Data Source: FCA
The FCA has also linked high DEP with increased usage of the trading applications. Namely, the number of trading sessions of high DEP clients stood between 20 and 50 for nearly 30%, while 21% of traders partook in trading across over 50 sessions per month, and for 3% of these traders, the number of sessions exceeded 100.
Number of App Sessions Per Month
Data Source: FCA
Additionally, 80% of clients utilising low DEP applications spent up to an hour on trading apps, while 14% used their app, while 19% used their application of choice for over an hour. In contrast, 58% medium and high DEP users used a trading app for no more than 1 hour, while 40% used the apps for more than an hour.
Hours Spent on Trading Apps Per Month
Data Source: FCA
Conclusion
Overall, the UK retail trading landscape is diverse, dynamic, and heavily shaped by the regulatory oversight of the FCA. While the UK remains a global leader in total foreign exchange turnover, retail participation in FX and leveraged products like CFDs remains a niche and high-risk activity for many traders and investors. Trading applications, along with non-advised platforms in general, appear to play a key role in the behaviour of younger retail traders and investors and have generally accelerated market access.