Major World Currencies — USD, EUR, GBP, JPY & More
Reference guide to the world's most traded currencies including USD, EUR, GBP, JPY, CHF, AUD, CAD, and CNY. Codes, symbols, decimal places, and usage details.
Detailed Explanation
The World's Major Currencies
The foreign exchange (forex) market trades over $7 trillion daily, and a handful of currencies dominate this volume. Understanding these major currencies is fundamental for developers working on international financial systems.
The "Majors"
In forex markets, the term "major currencies" refers to the eight most heavily traded currencies:
| Code | Currency | Symbol | Daily Forex Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| USD | US Dollar | $ | ~88% of all trades |
| EUR | Euro | € | ~31% |
| JPY | Japanese Yen | ¥ | ~17% |
| GBP | British Pound | £ | ~13% |
| CNY | Chinese Yuan | ¥ | ~7% |
| AUD | Australian Dollar | A$ | ~7% |
| CAD | Canadian Dollar | CA$ | ~6% |
| CHF | Swiss Franc | CHF | ~5% |
Note: Forex percentages sum to 200% because each trade involves two currencies.
Key Characteristics
USD (US Dollar) — The world's primary reserve currency. Most commodities (oil, gold) are priced in USD. It uses 2 decimal places and the numeric code 840.
EUR (Euro) — Used by 20 Eurozone countries. It is the second most traded currency and was introduced in 1999 (coins and notes in 2002). Numeric code 978.
JPY (Japanese Yen) — Notable for using 0 decimal places. The smallest unit is 1 yen. When working with JPY in code, you must handle amounts as integers, not floating-point.
GBP (British Pound Sterling) — One of the oldest currencies still in use. Uses 2 decimal places (100 pence = 1 pound).
Symbol Conflicts
Several currencies share the $ symbol (USD, CAD, AUD, NZD, HKD, SGD), and both JPY and CNY use ¥. Always use ISO 4217 codes in APIs and databases to avoid ambiguity.
Use Case
When building a multi-currency pricing system or forex trading platform, you need to know the properties of major currencies — especially their decimal places and symbols. A common bug is treating JPY like USD (with 2 decimals) when it should have 0, leading to amounts being 100x off. This reference helps you avoid such mistakes.