Last updated: 13 October 2026 Every CFD broker regulated in the UK or EU has to tell you what share of its retail accounts lose money. We read those mandated risk warnings directly from brokers’ websites on 13 October 2026 and put them side by side.
Across 12 brokers whose risk warnings we could read on 13 October 2026, between 61% and 84% of retail accounts lose money trading CFDs (and spread bets, where offered).
The median was 71.33%. Saxo and Spreadex showed the lowest figures (61%); ActivTrades showed the highest (84%).
These numbers are required by regulators, not chosen by marketing. UK and EU rules make CFD providers publish the share of their own retail accounts that lost money, based on the last 12 months and updated every quarter.
13 other well-known brokers are listed below as not verified because their pages blocked our fetch or filled the number in by script. We have not guessed their figures.
Retail CFD loss rates by broker, checked 13 October 2026
| Broker (page checked) | Share of retail accounts that lose money | Products named |
|---|---|---|
| ActivTrades | 84% | CFDs |
| OANDA (UK site) | 76.6% | CFDs |
| XTB | 74% | CFDs |
| Pepperstone (UK site) | 73.6% | spread bets and CFDs |
| IC Markets (EU site) | 73.46% | CFDs |
| Vantage (UK site) | 72.65% | CFDs and spread bets |
| IG (UK site) | 70% | spread bets and CFDs |
| Tickmill UK | 68% | CFDs |
| Axi (UK site) | 67.7% | CFDs |
| Capital.com (UK site) | 65% | spread bets and CFDs |
| Saxo (UK site) | 61% | CFDs |
| Spreadex | 61% | spread bets and CFDs |
Each figure is quoted from the risk warning on the broker’s own website on the page linked, as fetched on 13 October 2026. A broker group can publish different numbers for each regulated entity, so the UK or EU site may differ from other regions.
Brokers not verified
| Broker (page checked) | Why not listed |
|---|---|
| CMC Markets (UK site) | page loads, but the percentage is filled in by script and was not in the page we fetched |
| Plus500 (UK site) | page loads, percentage not found in fetched page |
| Interactive Brokers (UK site) | page loads, percentage not found in fetched page |
| eToro (UK site) | HTTP 404 to our fetch |
| AvaTrade (UK site) | HTTP 403 (blocked) |
| FxPro (UK site) | HTTP 403 (blocked) |
| City Index (UK site) | HTTP 403 (blocked) |
| FOREX.com (UK site) | HTTP 403 (blocked) |
| Admirals (UK site) | HTTP 403 (blocked) |
| Trading 212 | HTTP 403 (blocked) |
| FP Markets (EU site) | HTTP 403 (blocked) |
| Swissquote (UK site) | HTTP 404 to our fetch |
| easyMarkets (EU site) | no connection |
Why this matters for prop traders
Prop firm challenges usually run on simulated accounts, so the trader is not one of these brokers’ retail clients. The broker figures are still the best public, regulated measure of how often retail traders lose money with leveraged products. For prop-specific results, see our pass rate registry.
India: SEBI found that 87.7% of individual equity futures and options traders in India lost money in FY26, down from 90.9% in FY25. See India F&O trader losses (SEBI study).
Sources
- Each broker’s own website, at the page linked in the tables above, fetched 13 October 2026.
- FCA PS19/18: Restricting contract for difference products sold to retail clients — the UK rule requiring the loss-percentage warning.
- ESMA: product intervention measures on CFDs (2018) — the EU origin of the standard warning, now applied by national regulators.
Method
We fetched each broker’s UK or EU homepage with a plain web request and quoted the sentence “X% of retail investor accounts lose money…” from it. Where the number was not in the page we received, we marked the broker not verified instead of using a figure from elsewhere.
The median is across the 12 verified brokers only.
Caveats
Each broker calculates its own figure for its own clients over the previous 12 months, so differences reflect client mix, products and leverage as well as the broker. A lower number does not mean a broker is better for any individual.
Figures change every quarter. Check the broker’s site for the current number. This page is not investment advice and is not an endorsement of any broker.
How to cite this
Prop Data Lab, “Retail CFD Loss Rates by Broker”, updated 13 October 2026, https://propdatalab.com/cfd-broker-retail-loss-rates/
The table and the CSV are free to reuse under CC BY 4.0: copy, chart or republish them, commercial use included, as long as you link back to this page. Figures quoted from each broker’s mandated risk warning.
Common questions
What percentage of CFD traders lose money?
Among 12 UK and EU broker sites we checked on 13 October 2026, between 61% and 84% of retail accounts lost money, with a median of 71.33%.
Why do CFD brokers show a loss percentage?
UK and EU regulators require CFD providers to state the share of their retail accounts that lost money, calculated over the last 12 months and updated quarterly.
Which broker had the lowest loss rate?
Saxo's UK site and Spreadex both showed 61% on 13 October 2026, the lowest among the brokers we could verify.
Do prop firm traders count in these numbers?
Generally no. Prop firm evaluations usually run on simulated accounts, not retail CFD accounts with these brokers.