Global Exchange Derivatives Volumes —

A Statistical Overview
By Research & Planning Department

Financial derivatives are much more popular than non-financial derivatives, both in volume terms and in
number of exchanges offering them. Contract volume is the preferred, although imperfect, measure
for comparing exchange activity. Notional value, which may be a better measure in economic terms, is
usually not readily available.

Global trading of exchange-traded

Growth in global exchange-traded derivatives* (1999-2006H1)
futures and options (collectively 1
referred to as derivatives in this article) 12 (a) Contract volume
is growing fast. According to data 9.9
10
provided by the US-based Futures 8.9
8.2
Industry Association (FIA) 1, global 8
Billion contracts

exchange derivatives volume2 rose 6.2

5.9
from 2.4 billion contracts in 1999 to 6
4.4
9.9 billion contracts in 2005,
4
representing an annual growth rate of 3.0
2.4
27 per cent (see Figure 1a). The growth 2
rate is much higher than the 8 per cent
in the global equity market3 over the 0
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006HI

same period according to the statistics

800
of the World Federation of Exchanges (b) Open interest**
669
(WFE) (see Figure 2). Nonetheless, 700

equity market volumes are more 600 551

volatile — in the first half of 2006 a total

Million contracts

500 444
of 5.9 billion derivative contracts were 370
400
traded, representing a pro-rata growth 296
282
300
rate of 19 per cent over 2005, compared 232
256

to a remarkable 42 per cent growth in 200

global equity trading. Equity and 100

derivatives market growth on statistics 0

1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 Jun 2006
during the years was due partly to the
increase in the number of exchanges * Figures in each period are only summations of the available figures of exchanges covered in that
reporting the statistics to the FIA or period, which may vary (eg 58 in 1999 vs 59 in June 2006).
** Open interest figures are not adjusted for multiple counting of fungible products listed on more than
WFE but mostly to growth in trading one exchange. Nevertheless, such cases are relatively very small.
activity 4. Source: Futures Industry Association

1
The FIA is a membership organisation for which regular members are US-registered Futures Commission Merchants (FCMs). US and international exchanges and
clearing houses as well as other intermediaries may apply as associate members. There are currently 39 exchange associate members. Statistics maintained by
FIA include exchanges that are not its associate members.
2
“Global exchange derivatives volume” in this article refers to the aggregate trading volume of derivatives on exchanges with data maintained by FIA.
3
“Global equity market” in this article refers to the equity markets of members of the WFE.
4
For instance, the volume of KOSPI 200 options on Korea Exchange (KRX) rose from 80 million contracts in 1999 to 2,535 million contracts in 2005, representing
an annual growth rate of 78 per cent. This contract contributed 25 per cent of global derivatives volume in 2005. For the equity market, excluding the 10 WFE
member exchanges which joined between 1999 and 2005, the compound annual growth rate of the global equity market for the period was 7 per cent.

October 2006 43
 Global Exchange Derivatives Volumes — A Statistical Overview

The FIA currently compiles statistics on

Global exchanges’ equity trading value* (1999-2006H1)
the contract volume and open interest 2
of derivative products offered by 59 60

exchanges, including most of the 49.8 51.1

50
world’s major derivatives exchanges 42.3
(see Appendix 1). Based on the FIA 40 38.1
36.3
33.3
statistics, this article examines the 33.1 33.1

US$ trillion
30
relative position of HKEx among global
exchanges and compares HKEx’s 20
volume with exchanges offering similar
product types. 10

0
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006HI

* Figures in each period are only summations of the available figures of exchanges covered in that
period, which may vary (eg 46 in 1999 vs 51 in June 2006).
Source: World Federation of Exchanges

Global Volume by Product Type

Over 90 per cent of global derivatives trading is in financial derivatives. Among financial derivatives, equity-related
derivatives (on equity indices and individual equities) were the most actively traded product type in 2005 and
remained so in the first half of 2006 (65 per cent and 62 per cent of global volume in the respective periods).
Next came interest rate products (26 per cent and 28 per cent in the respective periods) and finally currency
products (2 per cent in both periods). Trading of non-financial derivatives (the underlying assets of which include
agricultural products, energy, precious metals and non-precious metals) contributed only 8 per cent of global
volume in both 2005 and the first half of 2006 (see Figures 3a and 3b).

Among the 59 exchanges which report statistics to the FIA, 16 offer non-financial (mainly commodity) derivatives
only, 13 offer both financial and non-financial derivatives and 30 offer financial derivatives only. The majority of
exchanges offer equity index futures (33 exchanges) and equity index options (31) (see Appendix 1).

Global volume by product type (2005 & 2006H1) (million contracts)

3
(a) 2005 (b) Jan-Jun 2006

Non-Precious Metals 98 (1%) Precious Metals 55 (1%) Non-Precious Metals 58 (1%) Precious Metals 41 (1%)

Energy 275 (3%) Others* 2 (0.02%) Energy 172 (3%) Others* 1 (0.01%)
Agriculturals 331 (3%) Agriculturals 205 (3%)
Currency 166 (2%) Currency 116 (2%)

Equity indices Equity indices

Individual equities 4,080 (41%) Individual equities 2,252 (38%)
2,357 (24%) 1,463 (25%)

Interest rates Interest rates

2,537 (26%) 1,637 (28%)

* Others are derivatives on weather, lumber, fertiliser, plastics, commodity indices, etc.
Source: Futures Industry Association

44 October 2006 
Ranking of Exchanges by Derivatives Volume
Korea Exchange (KRX), Eurex and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) are the top three exchanges by
contract volume. They together contributed 49.8 per cent and 46.6 per cent of the global volume respectively
in 2005 and the first half of 2006. HKEx ranked 35th and 31st in the respective periods. Dalian, the largest of
the Mainland China exchanges, ranked 17th in both periods (see Figures 4a and 4b).

4 Global ranking of exchanges by derivatives volume (2005 & 2006H1)

3,000 (a) 2005

2,593 HKEx: 35th position

2,500

2,000
Million contacts

1,500
1,249
1,090
1,000
758
675
468 449
500
269
205 202 199 163 145 132 108 104 99 26
0
Korea Exchange

Eurex

Chicago Mercantile Exchange

Euronext

Chicago Board of Trade

Chicago Board Options Exchange

International Securities Exchange

BOVESPA, Brazil

New York Mercantile Exchange

American Stock Exchange

BM&F, Brazil

Philadelphia Stock Exchange

Pacific Exchange

National Stock Exchange of India

Mexican Derivatives Exchange

OMX Exchanges

Dalian Commodity Exchange

HKEx
(b) Jan-Jun 2006
1,400
1,241
HKEx: 31st position
1,200

1,000
Million contacts

824
800
705

600

401 387
400 338
300

200 149 133 132 130 128 101 99 93 68 66

19
0
Korea Exchange

Eurex

Chicago Mercantile Exchange

Chicago Board of Trade

Euronext

Chicago Board Options Exchange

International Securities Exchange

Mexican Derivatives Exchange

BOVESPA, Brazil

BM&F, Brazil

New York Mercantile Exchange

Philadelphia Stock Exchange

National Stock Exchange of India

American Stock Exchange

Pacific Exchange

OMX Exchanges

Dalian Commodity Exchange

HKEx

Source: Futures Industry Association

October 2006 45
 Global Exchange Derivatives Volumes — A Statistical Overview

Ranking of Exchanges by Financial Derivatives Contract Volume

HKEx currently offers only financial derivatives. They are products on individual equities (stock futures and stock
options), equity indices (Hang Seng Index (HSI) Futures and Options, H-shares Index Futures and Options, FTSE/
Xinhua China 25 Index Futures and Options, and Mini-HSI Futures and Options) and interest rate and fixed income
products (One-month and Three-month HIBOR Futures and Three-year Exchange Fund Note Futures). In terms
of contract volume of financial derivatives, HKEx ranked 24th among a total of 43 reporting exchanges offering
such products during the first half of 2006. Again, KRX, Eurex and CME were the top three exchanges, contributing
51 per cent of global volume of financial derivatives in the period (see Figure 5).

5 Global ranking of exchanges by contract volume of financial derivatives (2006H1)

1,400
1,241
HKEx: 24th position
1,200

1,000
Million contacts

824
800
695

600

382
400 338 337
300

200 149 133 132 128 101 99 93 68

19
0
Korea Exchange

Eurex

Chicago Mercantile Exchange

Euronext

Chicago Board Options Exchange

Chicago Board of Trade

International Securities Exchange

Mexican Derivatives Exchange

BOVESPA, Brazil

BM&F, Brazil

Philadelphia Stock Exchange

National Stock Exchange of India

American Stock Exchange

Pacific Exchange

OMX Exchanges

HKEx
Source: Futures Industry Association

Contract Volume vs Notional Value

Contract volume is a convenient but not necessarily fair measure for comparison of derivatives trading activity
across exchanges. This is because derivative contracts vary greatly in size. Notional value is perhaps a better
measure in economic terms. Notional value is the value of the underlying assets represented by the derivative
contracts traded. For illustration purposes, Table 1 shows the contract volume and the approximate notional
value of a number of selected index futures products on a number of exchanges. In the first half of 2006, S&P
500 Futures on the CME had a contract volume over 40 per cent smaller but a notional value 80 per cent larger
than FTSE 100 Index Futures on Euronext.liffe; Nikkei 225 Futures contracts on Singapore Exchange (SGX) had
a contract volume 60 per cent larger than HKEx’s HSI Futures but the two had comparable notional values.

However, notional values are difficult to compile in practice. As the market price of the underlying asset varies,
a contract traded at one time may differ in notional value from the same contract traded at another time. A
complete set of exchange statistics based on notional value is therefore much more difficult to obtain than one
based on contract volume.

46 October 2006 
 Contract volume and notional value of selected index futures (2006H1) Table 1
Contract size* Contract Approximate
Exchange Index futures (US$) volume notional value#
(end-Jun 2006) (Jan-Jun 2006) (US$m)
CME E-mini S&P 500 Futures 63,510 129,451,013 8,301,983
KRX KOSPI 200 Futures 87,417 25,386,479 2,324,140
Eurex DAX Futures 180,574 21,614,162 3,891,682
Chicago Board of Trade Mini-Dow Jones Futures 55,751 13,951,804 775,219
Osaka Securities Exchange Nikkei 225 Futures 135,227 13,600,308 1,919,545
Euronext.liffe FTSE 100 Index Futures 106,844 13,088,130 1,379,938
SGX Nikkei 225 Futures 67,614 9,771,412 690,295
CME S&P 500 Futures 317,550 7,734,116 2,479,392
HKEx HSI Futures 104,729 6,109,153 631,429
Taiwan Futures Exchange TAIEX Futures 41,954 5,295,890 223,802
HKEx H-shares Index Futures 43,679 2,420,491 103,693
* The contract size of an index futures contract at the end of June 2006 is calculated by multiplying the month-end closing index by the contract multiplier.
# Notional value of the contract volume during the period is an aggregate of the estimated notional values of monthly volumes. The monthly notional value is
estimated by multiplying the month-end closing index by the contract multiplier and the monthly contract volume. Exchange rates used were month-end
figures.
Sources: Reuters for index closing levels, Hong Kong Monetary Authority for exchange rates, Futures Industry Association for contract volume.

Nevertheless, the WFE has endeavoured to maintain derivatives statistics of members of the International Options
Market Association (IOMA) since 2003. IOMA members are mostly WFE members operating derivatives markets
(see Appendix 2). The WFE statistics are number of contracts traded and notional value in each of the six selected
product types (all are financial derivatives) — stock options, stock futures, stock index options, stock index futures,
bond options and bond futures. However, not all exchanges are able to provide notional values on their
products.

Figure 6 shows the ranking of WFE/IOMA exchanges by notional value of stock index futures, for which most
exchanges had data available, for the first half of 2006. HKEx ranked 8th out of 28 exchanges for which data
was available 5.

6 Ranking of WFE/IOMA exchanges by notional value of stock index futures (Jan - Jun 2006)
16,000
14,473
HKEx: 8th position
14,000

12,000

10,000 9,232
US$ billion

8,000

6,000

4,000 3,092
2,303
1,892
2,000 1,162 886
755 540 459
278 277 271 206 167 96 26 22 8 8 5 4 2 1 0.3 0.2 <0.1 <0.1 NA
0
Chicago Mercantile Exchange
Eurex
Euronext.liffe
Korea Exchange
Osaka Securities Exchange
Tokyo Stock Exchange
Singapore Exchange
HKEx
Borsa Italiana
BME Spanish Exchanges
TAIFEX, Taiwan
Sydney Futures Exchange
National Stock Exchange of India
JSE, South Africa
Bourse de Montréal
OMX
Warsaw Stock Exchange
Athens Derivatives Exchange
Wiener Börse
Bursa Malaysia Derivatives
Mexican Derivatives Exchange
Budapest Stock Exchange
Oslo Børs
Australian Stock Exchange
Tel Aviv Stock Exchange
Thailand Futures Exchange
Bombay Stock Exchange
Santiago Stock Exchange
Chicago Board of Trade

NA: Not available

Source: World Federation of Exchanges

5 Of these exchanges, 25 were among the 33 exchanges with statistics on stock index futures maintained by FIA (see Appendices 1 and 2).

October 2006 47
 Global Exchange Derivatives Volumes — A Statistical Overview

Appendix 1. List of exchanges covered by FIA statistics and their traded derivatives (as of June 2006)
Financial derivatives
Non-
Exchange Equity Equity Interest financial
Stock Stock Currency
index index rate derivatives
futures options products
futures options products
1. American Stock Exchange ★ ★

2. Australian Stock Exchange ★ ★ ★ ★

3. Bolsa de Mercantile Futures, Brazil* ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

4. Borsa Italiana (Italian Derivatives Market)* ★ ★ ★ ★

5. Boston Options Exchange ★

6. Bourse de Montréal* ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

7. BOVESPA, Brazil ★ ★ ★

8. Budapest Stock Exchange, Hungary* ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

9. Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Berhad* ★ ★ ★ ★

10. CBOE Futures Exchange* ★

11. Central Japan Commodity Exchange* ★

12. Chicago Board of Trade* ★ ★ ★ ★

13. Chicago Board Options Exchange* ★ ★ ★

14. Chicago Mercantile Exchange* ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

15. Dalian Commodity Exchange, China* ★

16. Eurex* ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

17. Eurex US* ★ ★ ★

18. Euronext* ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

19. Fukuoka Futures Exchange, Japan ★

20. HKEx* ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

21. ICE Futures, UK* ★

22. International Securities Exchange ★ ★

23. JSE, South Africa* ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

24. Kansai Commodities Exchange, Japan ★

25. Kansas City Board of Trade, USA* ★ ★

26. Korea Exchange* ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

27. London Metal Exchange, UK* ★

28. MEFF Renta FIJA of BME Spanish Exchanges* ★

29. MEFF Renta Variable of BME Spanish

★ ★ ★ ★
Exchanges*

30. Mercado A Termino De Buenos Aires (MATBA) ★

31. Mercado A Termino De Rosario (ROFEX)* ★ ★

32. Mexican Derivatives Exchange (MEXDER)* ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

48 October 2006 
 Financial derivatives
Non-
Exchange Equity Equity Interest financial
Stock Stock Currency
index index rate derivatives
futures options products
futures options products
33. Minneapolis Grain Exchange, USA* ★

34. National Stock Exchange of India* ★ ★ ★ ★

35. New York Board of Trade* ★ ★ ★ ★

36. New York Mercantile Exchange* ★

37. New Zealand Futures Exchange ★ ★ ★

38. OMX Exchanges* ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

39. OneChicago* ★ ★

40. Osaka Mercantile Exchange ★

41. Osaka Securities Exchange ★ ★ ★

42. Oslo Børs ★ ★ ★ ★

43. Pacific Exchange ★

44. Philadelphia Stock Exchange ★ ★ ★

45. Singapore Exchange (SGX)* ★ ★ ★ ★

46. Shanghai Futures Exchange* ★

47. Sydney Futures Exchange* ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

48. Taiwan Futures Exchange (TAIFEX)* ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

49. Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange ★ ★ ★ ★

50. The Tokyo Commodity Exchange* ★

51. Tokyo Financial Exchange* ★

52. Tokyo Grain Exchange*# ★

53. Tokyo Stock Exchange* ★ ★ ★ ★

54. Turkish Derivatives Exchange ★ ★ ★ ★

55. Warsaw Stock Exchange ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

56. Wiener Börse, Austria ★ ★ ★ ★

57. Winnipeg Commodity Exchange, Canada* ★

58. Yokohama Commodity Exchange, Japan# ★

59. Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange, China ★

Total number of exchanges 33 31 19 26 26 16 29

★ Products offered by the exchange.

* Associate members of FIA.
#
Yokohama Commodity Exchange merged into Tokyo Grain Exchange in April 2006.

October 2006 49
 Global Exchange Derivatives Volumes — A Statistical Overview

Appendix 2. List of exchanges and their selected derivatives covered by WFE derivatives statistics (as of June 2006)
Stock index Stock index Stock Stock Bond Bond
Exchange
futures options futures options futures options

1. American Stock Exchange ★ ★

2. Athens Derivatives Exchange ★ ★ ★ ★

3. Australian Stock Exchange ★ ★ ★ ★

4. BME Spanish Exchanges ★ ★ ★ ★

5. Bombay Stock Exchange ★ ★ ★ ★

6. Borsa Italiana ★ ★ ★ ★

7. Bourse de Montréal ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

8. BOVESPA, Brazil ★ ★ ★

9. Budapest Stock Exchange, Hungary ★ ★ ★ ★

10. Buenos Aires Stock Exchange ★

11. Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Berhad ★ ★

12. Chicago Board of Trade ★ ★ ★ ★

13. Chicago Board Options Exchange ★ ★

14. Chicago Mercantile Exchange ★ ★

15. Eurex ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

16. Euronext.liffe ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

17. HKEx ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

18. JSE, South Africa ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

19. Korea Exchange ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

20. Mexican Derivatives Exchange (MEXDER) ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

21. National Stock Exchange of India ★ ★ ★ ★

22. OMX Exchanges ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

23. Osaka Securities Exchange ★ ★ ★

24. Oslo Børs ★ ★ ★

25. Philadelphia Stock Exchange ★ ★

26. Santiago Stock Exchange ★ ★

27. Singapore Exchange (SGX) ★ ★ ★ ★

28. Sydney Futures Exchange ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

29. Taiwan Futures Exchange (TAIFEX) ★ ★ ★ ★

30. Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange ★ ★ ★

31. Thailand Futures Exchange ★

32. Tokyo Stock Exchange ★ ★ ★ ★

33. Warsaw Stock Exchange ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

34. Wiener Börse, Austria ★ ★ ★ ★

Total number of exchanges 29 31 17 26 16 8

★ Products offered by the exchange.

Exchanges not included in FIA statistics

50 October 2006