Forex margin calculator
Before opening a forex trade, see how much of your balance it ties up. Enter the lot size, the contract size, the exchange rate of the pair and your leverage, and say which currency your account is in. The calculator gives the required margin, the position value, and with your balance the free margin and the margin level.
Runs in your browser: nothing you enter is sent anywhere.
How to use it
- Enter the lots and the contract size (100,000 for a standard lot).
- Enter the exchange rate of the pair and your leverage (30 for 1:30).
- Choose your account currency: the quote currency (USD for EUR/USD), the base currency, or another one with its rate.
- Optionally enter your balance to see the free margin and margin level.
- Position value = lots × contract size × exchange rate × conversion to account currency
- Conversion: 1 for the quote currency, 1 ÷ rate for the base currency, or the rate you enter
- Required margin = position value ÷ leverage
- Margin requirement = 1 ÷ leverage × 100
- Free margin = balance − margin; margin level = balance ÷ margin × 100
Worked example
1 lot of EUR/USD at 1.085 with 1:30 leverage, USD account, balance 10,000:
- Position value 100,000 × 1.085 = 108,500.00.
- Required margin 108,500 ÷ 30 = 3,616.67, a 3.333 % requirement.
- Free margin 6,383.33, margin level 276.5 %.
For 2 lots of EUR/GBP at 0.85 with 1:20 in a USD account at 1.27 USD per GBP: 2 × 100,000 × 0.85 × 1.27 ÷ 20 = 10,795.00.
Tips
- Margin is not the risk: a stop loss decides how much you can lose. Use the position size and pip value calculators for that.
- Brokers may set higher margin for some pairs, over weekends or around big news.
- Keep free margin for adverse moves; a trade that uses most of the balance as margin can be closed out quickly.
Frequently asked questions
How is forex margin calculated?
Margin = lots × contract size × exchange rate ÷ leverage, in the quote currency, then converted to your account currency. One standard lot of EUR/USD at 1.0850 with 1:30 leverage needs 108,500 ÷ 30 = 3,616.67 USD.
What if my account is in the base currency?
Then the margin is simply lots × contract size ÷ leverage: the position value in the base currency is the number of units. A USD account trading 0.5 lot of USD/JPY at 1:50 needs 50,000 ÷ 50 = 1,000 USD.
What is margin level?
Equity ÷ used margin × 100. Brokers issue a margin call or close positions when it falls to their limits. Here equity is taken as the balance, without open profit or loss.
What contract size should I use?
A standard lot is 100,000 units of the base currency, a mini lot 10,000 and a micro lot 1,000. You can also enter 0.1 or 0.01 lots with the standard contract size. Metals and CFDs use other sizes; check your broker's specification.