Key takeaways
- GBP/USD has averaged 70 pips a day over the last 90 days, EUR/USD 56. As a share of price the gap is much smaller: 0.53% against 0.50%.
- Both are dollar pairs moving together: their daily correlation was +0.84 over the last year. Trading both at once is mostly one bet.
- EUR/USD is cheaper to trade: a 0.3-pip raw spread against 0.7, and 1.0 against 1.4 on typical standard accounts.
- For a first pair, EUR/USD's lower cost and smaller ranges give you more room for mistakes. GBP/USD rewards traders who already size positions carefully.
EUR/USD and GBP/USD are the two pairs almost every new trader starts with. Both are majors, both are quoted in dollars, and both have deep liquidity and tight spreads. But they behave differently enough that the choice matters, especially in your first months.
We compared them on a year of Dukascopy price data to the close on 16 October 2026.
The numbers side by side
| EUR/USD | GBP/USD | |
|---|---|---|
| Last close | 1.12381 | 1.33276 |
| Average daily range, 90 days | 56 pips | 70 pips |
| Average daily range, 1 year | 62 pips | 81 pips |
| Daily range as % of price (90 days) | 0.50% | 0.53% |
| 52-week range | 1.11128 – 1.20822 | 1.30098 – 1.38690 |
| 1-year change | −3.8% | −0.8% |
| Raw spread (median) | 0.3 pips | 0.7 pips |
| Typical standard-account spread | 1.0 pip | 1.4 pips |
| Pip value, 1 standard lot | $10 | $10 |
| Biggest day in the last year | 232 pips (27 Jan 2026) | 222 pips (23 Mar 2026) |
Full, regularly updated statistics are on the EUR/USD and GBP/USD market pages.
Volatility: more pips, not much more movement
GBP/USD’s reputation as the wilder pair shows up clearly in pips: 70 a day against 56 over the last 90 days, a gap of 25%. That’s what matters for your stop and target sizes, and for your profit or loss, since a pip on both is worth $10 per standard lot.
But part of that gap is simply price. GBP/USD trades around 1.33 and EUR/USD around 1.12, so the same percentage move covers more pips on sterling. Measured as a share of price, GBP/USD’s average day was 0.53% against EUR/USD’s 0.50%: only about 6% more.
In practice, GBP/USD needs stops roughly a quarter wider for the same chance of being hit by normal noise. With the same risk per trade, that means a position about a fifth smaller.
When they move
Both pairs follow the same daily rhythm: quiet in Asian hours, busy from the London open, busiest when New York joins. GBP/USD moves more in every single hour:
Show the data
| 00 | 1.8 |
| 01 | 1.9 |
| 02 | 2.4 |
| 03 | 2.0 |
| 04 | 1.7 |
| 05 | 1.7 |
| 06 | 2.5 |
| 07 | 5.3 |
| 08 | 5.4 |
| 09 | 5.0 |
| 10 | 3.9 |
| 11 | 5.1 |
| 12 | 5.3 |
| 13 | 5.2 |
| 14 | 5.8 |
| 15 | 7.5 |
| 16 | 4.9 |
| 17 | 4.2 |
| 18 | 3.3 |
| 19 | 2.7 |
| 20 | 2.0 |
| 21 | 2.7 |
| 22 | 4.5 |
| 23 | 2.1 |
The London session (08:00–17:00 London time) is the busiest for both: 47 pips on an average day for EUR/USD, 62 for GBP/USD. If you can only trade in the Asian hours, neither pair offers much, with ranges of 32 and 41 pips across the whole Tokyo session. See the most volatile hours in forex for other pairs.
They mostly move together
Both pairs are priced in US dollars, so anything that moves the dollar moves both. Over the last year their daily returns had a correlation of +0.84, rising to +0.87 over the last 90 days. On most days they go the same way.
That matters for risk. Buying EUR/USD and GBP/USD at the same time isn’t two trades; it’s very nearly one larger bet against the dollar. If you trade both, count them together towards your risk limit. The currency correlation guide explains how.
Where they do differ is on European versus UK news. ECB decisions and eurozone data move EUR/USD; Bank of England decisions, UK inflation and UK politics move GBP/USD. Over a full year those differences add up:
Show the data
| 2017 | +14.1% |
| 2018 | -4.5% |
| 2019 | -2.2% |
| 2020 | +9.0% |
| 2021 | -6.9% |
| 2022 | -5.8% |
| 2023 | +3.1% |
| 2024 | -6.2% |
| 2025 | +13.5% |
| 2026* | -4.3% |
Show the data
| 2017 | +9.4% |
| 2018 | -5.5% |
| 2019 | +4.0% |
| 2020 | +3.1% |
| 2021 | -1.1% |
| 2022 | -10.5% |
| 2023 | +5.3% |
| 2024 | -1.7% |
| 2025 | +7.7% |
| 2026* | -1.1% |
Cost
EUR/USD is the most traded currency pair in the world, and it’s the cheapest to trade. The raw spread we measured had a median of 0.3 pips against 0.7 for GBP/USD; typical standard accounts charge around 1.0 and 1.4 pips.
Relative to how far each pair moves, the difference narrows: a typical spread is 1.8% of EUR/USD’s average day and 2.0% of GBP/USD’s. On short timeframes, though, it matters: on 5-minute charts the spread is 39% of an average EUR/USD candle and 41% of a GBP/USD one. Our cost study has the full breakdown.
Which should you start with?
Start with EUR/USD if you’re new to position sizing and stops, you trade short timeframes where cost matters most, or you want smaller daily ranges and the widest choice of commentary and analysis.
Choose GBP/USD if you already size every trade from the stop, you trade the London session and want larger moves from it, and you’re comfortable with sharper reactions to UK data and political news.
Avoid trading both at once in your first months unless you count them as one position. With a correlation of +0.84, doubling up is the easiest way to risk twice what you planned.
Whichever you choose, learn one pair properly before adding a second. The trader who knows how EUR/USD behaves around the London open, on CPI days and into the rollover has an advantage over one who trades twenty pairs they barely know.
Method: Dukascopy hourly bid prices, daily candles ending at 17:00 New York time, to 16 October 2026. Sessions in each centre’s local hours (Tokyo 09:00–18:00, London and New York 08:00–17:00). Correlation of daily log returns. Raw spreads: median ask minus bid at 5-minute closes over 90 days.
This article is for education and information, not investment advice. Trading forex and CFDs on margin is high risk and most retail accounts lose money. Read our risk warning.