The status of the "world currency" remains solid! SWIFT's latest data: The share of international settlements in US dollars has surged to its highest level since 2023, exceeding 50% again.

Despite the continued uncertainty surrounding the policies of US President Trump, the US dollar still maintains its dominant position in global trade. According to the latest data released by the global financial information services organization SWIFT, the US dollar's share in international transactions rose to 50.5% in December, up from 46.8% the previous month. This is the highest share since 2023, when the Belgium-based institution revised its data collection method. Following the US dollar as the world's main reserve currency is the euro, with a share of about 22%, followed by the pound, the Canadian dollar, the yen, and the Chinese yuan. In a report this week, Morgan Stanley strategist Luis Oganes and others wrote, "The US dollar continues to dominate foreign exchange trading and international currency usage. At the same time, major central banks continue to increase their gold reserves, with gold's share in reserve assets increasing in 2025." Major global banks use SWIFT to communicate with each other and facilitate interbank currency transactions. According to SWIFT's latest annual report from last year, there were approximately 13.4 billion messaging instructions sent through SWIFT in 2024, up from 11.9 billion the previous year. SWIFT's data does not cover the entire forex market, with daily trading volumes reaching as high as $9.5 trillion. For example, in 2022, following the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, SWIFT began excluding several major Russian banks from its services. However, these data strongly support the notion that despite the market volatility and policy chaos brought about by Trump's presidency, the US dollar's position in international finance and trade remains strong. The last time the US dollar's share in global payments exceeded 50% was in January 2025. Meanwhile, the US dollar index has fallen by over 7% in the past year. Independent data from the Bank for International Settlements show that as of April 2025, 89% of forex trades involved at least one party using the US dollar, while the Federal Reserve estimates that around 60% of foreign currency debt is denominated in US dollars. SWIFT's transaction data shows that US dollar transaction volumes experience monthly fluctuations due to seasonal factors and short-term payment activities. In December of last year, the growth in US dollar transactions was mainly due to a decrease in euro payment volumes, with euro payments falling to 21.9%, the lowest level in a year. In December, around 2.7% of SWIFT transactions involved the Chinese yuan, lower than the average level of the past year.