Lot sizes explained: standard, mini and micro lots

In forex, you don't buy "one EUR/USD". You buy a quantity of the first currency in the pair, measured in lots. The lot size you choose decides how much each pip is worth and, through that, how much you can win or lose.

The standard sizes

• Standard lot (1.00): 100,000 units of the base currency
• Mini lot (0.10): 10,000 units
• Micro lot (0.01): 1,000 units

On MetaTrader and most other platforms you enter the size as a decimal. A trade of 0.25 lots of EUR/USD is 25,000 euros' worth of exposure.

What that means in money

For pairs quoted in US dollars, such as EUR/USD, the value of a one-pip move is:

• 1.00 lot: $10
• 0.10 lot: $1
• 0.01 lot: $0.10

So a 50-pip move is worth $500 on one standard lot, $50 on a mini lot and $5 on a micro lot. The price moved the same amount in each case; only the position size changed.

Lots and margin

Your broker doesn't require you to hold the full value of the position, only a margin deposit. At a leverage limit of 30:1, which applies to major pairs for retail clients in the EU, UK and Australia, the margin is about 3.33% of the position's value. One standard lot of EUR/USD at 1.15 is worth about $115,000, so it needs about $3,833 in margin.

Being able to open a position doesn't mean you can afford its losses. Margin is a deposit, not a limit on what you can lose. The details are in leverage and margin explained.

Choosing a size

Beginners often pick a lot size because it "feels right". A better method is to decide first how much of your account you are prepared to lose if your stop-loss is hit, then calculate the lot size that matches. For example, risking $50 with a 25-pip stop on EUR/USD means each pip can be worth $2, which is 0.20 lots.

That approach is explained in full in position sizing and risk per trade.

Contract sizes vary for other markets

Lots for gold, oil, indices and crypto are defined by each broker's contract specifications and are not standardised. One lot of gold is often 100 ounces, but check before trading, because the same lot size can mean very different exposure from one broker to the next.