EncyclopediaEncyclopedia › Guides ›
How do retail traders actually do?
You often hear '90% of traders lose'. The real figures come from different studies that measured different things. We list them separately:
EU CFDBetting on a price change without owning the asset. accounts: ESMA (2018) reported that 74–89% of retail CFD accounts typically lose money.
French forexThe currency market. and CFD clients: the French regulator AMF studied 14,799 active retail clients over 2009–2012. 89.4% lost money. The average loss was €10,887; the median (middle) loss was €1,843.
Brazilian futures day traders: Chague, De-Losso and Giovannetti studied the 19,646 people who started day tradingOpening and closing trades within the same day. mini-index futures in Brazil (2013–2015). 1,551 of them kept going for more than 300 days. Of those, 97% lost money after fees. Only 1.1% earned more than the minimum wage (SSRN 3423101). They found no evidence that traders learned over time.
Brazilian stock day traders: a second study by the same authors looked at 98,378 stock day traders. Only 127 of them averaged more than R$100 a day over 300+ days.
US households: Barber and Odean (2000) looked at the most active traders. They earned 11.4% a year after costs. The market earned 17.9%.
Each number answers a different question. None of them is 'the' percentage for everyone.
Related
Sources & studies
- ESMA: ESMA agrees to prohibit binary options and restrict CFDs to protect retail investors
- Chague, De-Losso & Giovannetti, Day Trading for a Living? (SSRN 3423101)
- Chague, De-Losso & Giovannetti, É possível viver de day-trade em ações? (RBFin)
- Barber & Odean (2000), Trading Is Hazardous to Your Wealth, Journal of Finance
- AMF (France): study of retail investor results in CFD and forex trading
Last checked: 2026-11-04 · Educational, not financial advice.
Education only, not financial advice. No signals. Backtests are hypothetical: real trading can be worse. Past results don't predict future results.