How Big Is One Percent in Pips Across Different Pairs?
Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2026 7:29 am
How Big Is One Percent in Pips Across Different Pairs?
Scenario: you want to compare volatility between pairs and notice that pip counts are misleading. Convert a one percent move into pips for several pairs.
Work it out. A one percent move is the price multiplied by 0.01, divided by the pip size.
EUR/USD at 1.1000: 1 percent is 0.0110, which is 110 pips. GBP/USD at 1.2500: 0.0125, or 125 pips. USD/JPY at 150: 1.50 yen, with a pip of 0.01, is 150 pips. AUD/USD at 0.6500: 0.0065, or 65 pips. USD/CHF at 0.9000: 0.0090, or 90 pips.
So a 100-pip day is a 0.91 percent move on EUR/USD, a 0.8 percent move on GBP/USD, a 0.67 percent move on USD/JPY, and a 1.54 percent move on AUD/USD.
If you compare daily ranges in pips, AUD/USD looks calm at 65 pips and GBP/USD looks active at 100. In percentage terms, AUD/USD's 65 pips is a 1.0 percent move, while GBP/USD would need about 125 pips to match it.
For comparing volatility across pairs, use percentages or ATR as a percentage of price. For stops and targets within a pair, pips work fine.
Takeaway: pips are a local unit, and percentages travel between pairs.
Practical step: convert the daily ATR in pips of three pairs to a percentage of price, and rank them.
Scenario: you want to compare volatility between pairs and notice that pip counts are misleading. Convert a one percent move into pips for several pairs.
Work it out. A one percent move is the price multiplied by 0.01, divided by the pip size.
EUR/USD at 1.1000: 1 percent is 0.0110, which is 110 pips. GBP/USD at 1.2500: 0.0125, or 125 pips. USD/JPY at 150: 1.50 yen, with a pip of 0.01, is 150 pips. AUD/USD at 0.6500: 0.0065, or 65 pips. USD/CHF at 0.9000: 0.0090, or 90 pips.
So a 100-pip day is a 0.91 percent move on EUR/USD, a 0.8 percent move on GBP/USD, a 0.67 percent move on USD/JPY, and a 1.54 percent move on AUD/USD.
If you compare daily ranges in pips, AUD/USD looks calm at 65 pips and GBP/USD looks active at 100. In percentage terms, AUD/USD's 65 pips is a 1.0 percent move, while GBP/USD would need about 125 pips to match it.
For comparing volatility across pairs, use percentages or ATR as a percentage of price. For stops and targets within a pair, pips work fine.
Takeaway: pips are a local unit, and percentages travel between pairs.
Practical step: convert the daily ATR in pips of three pairs to a percentage of price, and rank them.