The financial world has seen lots of changes throughout the last few decades. Sparked by the increased accessibility to the internet, online trading has become the industry with an immense volume and size. The Bank of International Settlements based in Zurich, Switzerland reports that the average daily trading volume on Forex has hit $5.1 trillion in 2016, a massive achievement for the sector.
Such growth of the Forex trading market was primarily boosted by technological development. Just a couple of decades ago, just only very few people had constant, quality access to the internet and much-needed hardware technology. However, as technological corporations started investing more and more in the development of computers and other technological means of internet communication, both accessibility and affordability soared importantly. As a result, today, more people can trade online than ever before. The figures for the trading volume and its increase from the Bank of International Settlements show the immense impact it has had.
The industry used technological advancement efficiently. They have established a variety of easy to use online trading platforms that attract millions of people from around the world. Due to its simplicity, many new users find success in trading without entering it without lots of money. Surprisingly, 9.6 million people globally are now online traders. That is a great number which is constantly increasing.
However, many people think that online trading is successful and widespread only in well-developed nations. This misconception primarily comes from the thought that richer nations have better infrastructure and more access to certain services while their citizens can easily afford trying new things, like Forex trading out. This truly is done by more and more people worldwide in an attempt to establish a new source of income for themselves and their families.
Yet, such people are not essentially concentrated in the west. Many developing and third-world nations are home to some of the most thriving trading communities globally. This breaks the misconception about the abilities of third-world and developing economies, particularly in the field of trading.
The fintech industry, which combines finances and technology has also gained momentum in underdeveloped and emerging economies. Significantly, the number of mobile bank users is one of the highest around the world in India, while the absolute majority of people in Kenya use e-banking services to pay utilities and perform other financial transactions.
What many people do not realize is that investing in the much-needed infrastructure that would support digital services is much smarter than opening up physical branches. The 21st century gives us an opportunity to remote and be productive without visiting a certain place. As a result, more people have a chance to be actively engaged in economical activities, boost their nations’ growth and increase personal income. Below, you will see a few underdeveloped or developing nations where trading has become widespread.
South Africa
The African online trading market has grown from 1.3 to roughly 2 million in just a single year from 2017 to 2018. The biggest hub on the continent is located in South Africa which effectively represents the absolute majority of online traders in the region. Such a soaring trend in South Africa should be no surprise to anyone as the nation has been transforming into a technological and financial hub in recent years. Platforms with comprehensive information about trading in South Africa have rapidly emerged in recent years. They list the ever-expanding number of top Forex brokers in the country. The list, which used to be rather short, is not quickly growing as more and more brokers in the nation achieve global success.
Despite the immense economic turmoil surrounding South Africa and its government, online trading truly is the industry that took off. Being one of the richest nations on the African continent, online trading managed to establish a solid user base. This particularly is due to the fact that an increasing number of international corporations open their offices in major South African cities, such as Johannesburg and Cape Town. They aim to attract young talent from this fast-developing nation.
India
The Indian economy is one of the fastest-growing on earth. The country is going through a China-alike transformation with skyrocketing growth rates. The country is particularly focusing on utilizing the absolute potential of technological development by investing in digital services and education. India also is the country with some of the highest rates of e-bank users. This suggests that the nation’s population is gradually adapting to the modern environment. As a result, online trading has become immensely popular among Indian nationals. There are no recent precise figures on the exact number of online traders in the country. However, the 2016 research said that there were estimated 590,000 of them in India. After 4 years, this number is probably much higher.
Indonesia
The transcontinental nation between Asia and Oceania is one of the biggest hubs of online trading on earth. The islands have good access to the internet and are fairly regulation-free in this field. However, one of the main factors that drive the online trading market in Indonesia is different from regular ones. The thing is that Indonesia along with Thailand is also a hub for Expatriates from around the world. People are attracted by the great climate and cheap prices. Researches suggest that due to the flexibility and remote character of online trading, the focus has been taken away from major financial centers such as London and New York. Only roughly 5% of online traders worldwide live in major financial hubs. Countries like Indonesia effectively attract the eyes of thousands of people to move and establish their workstations in affordable and warm nations in this part of the world.
Countries that are developing their financial systems just now have an unprecedented chance to start from the blank page and implement digital solutions from the very beginning. This makes it much easier for such nations since in more developed ones, physical services are better established and are much more difficult to replace.
When it comes to online trading, major clusters are still located in developed economies and western regions. The United States remains the biggest online trading hub country with over 1.5 million active users. For comparison, the entire continent of Europe has an equal number of traders. However, when it comes to the numbers for regions, Asia is leading the way. The continent has roughly 3.2 million online traders, making it the densest online trading market on earth. Asia and Europe are followed by Africa as the third largest online trading market in the world. Despite the presence of Europe, Asia and Africa make it up for almost half of all online traders. Considering the fact that the majority of nations in the aforementioned regions are either underdeveloped or emerging economies, the vast contribution they make is clearly visible.
