The average daily trading volume in Korea’s foreign exchange market reached a record high, driven by expanded foreign securities investment.
According to the “Foreign Exchange Trading Trends of Foreign Exchange Banks in the Second Quarter of 2026” released by the Bank of Korea on the 31st, the average daily foreign exchange trading volume of foreign exchange banks (spot exchange and forex derivatives) in the second quarter stood at $121.44 billion, up $18.79 billion, or 18.3%, from $102.65 billion in the previous quarter. This marks the largest quarterly figure since the related statistics began in 2008. The previous record was $102.65 billion in the first quarter of this year.
The BOK explained that the increase was driven by a sharp rise in foreigners’ trading of domestic stocks and bonds, along with an increase in hedging transactions amid continued exchange rate volatility. Foreigners’ domestic securities trading volume (combined stocks and bonds, monthly average) expanded from 475 trillion won in the fourth quarter of last year to 855 trillion won in the first quarter of this year, and to 1,048 trillion won in April and May. Over the same period, the won-dollar exchange rate volatility also remained high, rising from 0.37% in the fourth quarter of last year to 0.60% in the first quarter of this year and 0.52% in the second quarter.
By product, spot exchange transactions reached $54.11 billion, up 27.7% from the previous quarter, leading the overall increase in trading. Forex derivatives transactions also rose 11.7% to $67.32 billion.
By bank type, the average daily trading volume of domestic banks was $55.51 billion, up 20.1% from the previous quarter, while domestic branches of foreign banks rose 16.8% to $65.93 billion.
