This is reported by RBK-Ukraine referencing Bloomberg. The information comes from Kontrakty.UA.
The share of payments worldwide involving the dollar increased to 50.2% in January, up from 49.1% the previous month. This is the highest level since a Belgium-based consortium revised its data collection method for transactions in mid-2023.
As the world's primary reserve currency, the dollar continues to dominate the traffic on SWIFT. Over the past approximately one and a half years, it has averaged around 48% of total global traffic. The next largest currency, the euro, accounts for about 23% on average, followed by the British pound at 7.1%.
The data on exchange rates underscores the economic realities underpinning the central role of the dollar in international trade, while debates intensify about finding ways to avoid using the American currency.
"If an alternative to the dollar emerges, it cannot just be as good as the dollar. It has to be better," said Marc Chandler, chief market strategist at Bannockburn Global Forex.
SWIFT System
SWIFT is used by global banks to send messages to each other while managing currency transactions. SWIFT began collecting data in 2010, but the figures from July 2023 reflect a technical adjustment in how it tracks numbers, based on recently revised trade reporting standards.
Of course, not all transactions in the $7.5 trillion daily currency market are sent through SWIFT, which excluded several major Russian banks from its service in 2022 following the invasion of Ukraine. However, the data sheds light on the vast flows of money that drive trade.
According to the latest annual review published in June 2024, approximately 11.9 billion trade instructions were sent via SWIFT in 2023. This is up from 11.2 billion the previous year.
BRICS' Failed Attempts
In recent years, there have been increasing contenders seeking ways to trade without using the dollar or U.S. financial institutions, partly due to Russia's desire to develop its economy amid harsh sanctions.
These debates have largely revolved around the BRICS bloc, a group of emerging economies that includes Russia and China, as well as Brazil, India, and South Africa. The yuan now holds the fourth position in terms of total payment traffic share in SWIFT, accounting for nearly 3.8%—about double what it was ten years ago. The South African rand made up around 0.3% of the total volume last month. Currencies from Brazil and India did not make it into the top twenty, according to the SWIFT report.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump focused on the dollar's role in international markets, reiterating threats of 100% tariffs for the BRICS group if they switch to their own currency. While tariffs became a central element of the new administration's policy, only a few significant actions have taken effect so far.
Earlier, the NBU stated that the currency structure of transactions in Ukraine's currency market confirms the status of the U.S. dollar as the primary exchange rate currency. At the same time, in the segment of transactions between banks and clients, the share of euro transactions in the total volume tends to increase. Specifically, in operations involving the purchase of non-cash currency by clients, the share of euro transactions remains above 40%.