The dollar's share in SWIFT has reached a historic high

In January, the dollar's share in international settlements conducted through the SWIFT system reached a new record, exceeding half of all transactions for the first time. According to the system, this indicator increased by 1.05 percentage points compared to December, reaching 50.17%. 

Against this background, the share of the euro continued to decline, which has been recorded for the third month in a row, and by the end of January decreased by another 0.24 percentage points, amounting to 21.98%.

The British pound followed the dollar and the euro in the ranking of currencies by popularity. Its share remained almost unchanged, ending the month at 6.91% (for comparison, in December the figure was 6.94%). The fourth position, as before, is held by the Chinese yuan. Its volume in SWIFT payments also remained at the same level – 3.79% against 3.75% a month earlier.

Previously, the SWIFT system dominated the field of financial transaction processing, providing the vast majority of banking transactions on a global level. However, since 2014, after Western countries first threatened to disconnect Russia from this system, major countries have begun to develop their own alternatives. One example of such a replacement was the Russian Financial Messaging System (SPFS).