Yuan becomes world’s second main currency in trade settlements via SWIFT

The share of the yuan in international settlements within the SWIFT system showed impressive growth, increasing from 4.82% in August to 5.8% in September. This indicator has become the highest in the last five years, during which statistics are kept. 

It is important to note that during this period, the yuan overtook the euro and for the first time became the second main currency in world trade settlements among SWIFT countries. 

The dollar still holds the first place, accounting for 84.15% of the total volume of international settlements in September, which is slightly more than 83.95% in August. Since December last year, the «American» has been consistently below 85%, which has not happened since the beginning of 2018.

The third place in the rating of currencies is occupied by the euro – its share in the calculations was 5.43% in September. In August, the indicator was at the level of 6.43%

The yuan is followed by the Japanese yen, with a share of 1.4%, followed by the Saudi rial, whose share decreased from 0.63% in August to 0.56% in September.

The yuan's share in international settlements outside SWIFT in September reached a record 3.71%, increasing by 0.24 percentage points. The dollar's share for the month decreased by 1.45 percentage points to 46.58%, and the euro strengthened its position – its share increased by 0.38 percentage points to 23.6%.