Standard, mini and micro lots explained

In forex, you don't buy "one euro" or "ten dollars". You trade in lots, which are fixed blocks of currency. The lot size decides how much each pip of movement is worth to you, so it's the single setting that turns a sensible trade into a reckless one.

The four lot 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. The smallest size at most brokers.
• Nano lot (0.001): 100 units, offered by a few brokers and on some cent accounts.

On MetaTrader, you type the size as a decimal. 0.25 lots means two and a half mini lots, or 25,000 units.

What each size is worth per pip

When the US dollar is the second currency in the pair (EUR/USD, GBP/USD, AUD/USD, NZD/USD), one pip is worth a fixed amount in dollars:

• 1 standard lot: $10 per pip
• 1 mini lot: $1 per pip
• 1 micro lot: $0.10 per pip

So a 30-pip move on a mini lot is $30, and the same move on a standard lot is $300.

For other pairs, the pip value changes with the exchange rate. On USD/JPY, a pip is 0.01 and its value in dollars depends on the yen price. On EUR/GBP, a pip is worth a fixed amount in pounds, which you then convert to your account currency. The calculator below works it out for any pair and account currency.

Gold is different

On most platforms, one lot of gold (XAU/USD) is 100 troy ounces. A $1 move in the gold price is $100 on one lot, $10 on 0.10 lots and $1 on 0.01 lots. Gold regularly moves $20 to $50 or more in a day, so lot sizes that feel small on EUR/USD can be large on gold. We cover this in our guide to trading gold.

Contract sizes vary between brokers, especially for gold, indices and cent accounts, so always check the contract specification in your platform.

Why there's no "right" lot size

Beginners often ask what lot size to use for a $1,000 account. The honest answer is that it changes on every trade, because it depends on where your stop loss is.

Say you have $1,000 and risk 1%, so $10:

• With a 20-pip stop on EUR/USD, you can trade 0.05 lots ($0.50 per pip × 20 = $10).
• With a 50-pip stop, you can trade 0.02 lots ($0.20 per pip × 50 = $10).

Same account, same risk, different lot sizes. The stop goes where the chart says it should, and the lot size adjusts to keep the loss the same. Our article on how much to risk per trade explains the formula, and the position size calculator applies it.

Small accounts and micro lots

Micro lots are what make a small account workable. With 0.01 lots on EUR/USD, a 25-pip stop risks $2.50. That's small enough to learn on, and to survive a losing streak while you do.

If your account is so small that even 0.01 lots puts more than 2% at risk with a sensible stop, it's better to keep saving and practise on demo than to tighten the stop until it means nothing.

Risk note: trading forex carries a high level of risk and may not be suitable for everyone. This article is for education only and is not financial advice.