How to use the pip value calculator
- Choose the currency pair you trade. The list covers the majors, the main crosses, several emerging-market pairs, and gold and silver against the dollar.
- Choose your account currency. This is the currency your broker reports your balance in.
- Enter the position size in lots. One standard lot is 100,000 units of the first currency; a mini lot is 0.1 and a micro lot 0.01.
- Enter a price if the form asks for one. When the pair’s quote currency is not your account currency, the calculator needs one current price to convert the pip value. It tells you exactly which price, for example the USD/JPY price, so you can copy it from your platform.
The table under the results shows what moves of 1 to 100 pips are worth for position sizes from 0.01 to 10 lots, with your own size outlined.
How pip value is calculated
A pip is a fixed price step, so the money it is worth in the pair’s own quote currency is simple:
The only complication is converting that amount into your account currency. There are three cases:
2. Account = base currency (USD/JPY, USD account): divide by the pair's price
3. Neither (EUR/GBP, USD account): multiply by the quote-to-account rateIn case 3 the calculator asks for the market price of the pair that links the two currencies, for example GBP/USD, and works out whether to multiply or divide.
Worked examples
EUR/USD, US dollar account. The pair is quoted in dollars, so one pip on 1 lot is worth $10.00, with no conversion. A mini lot is worth $1.00 and a micro lot $0.100 per pip.
USD/JPY at 150, US dollar account. The pip is 0.01 yen, so on 100,000 dollars it is worth 1,000 yen. Converted at 150 yen per dollar, that is $6.67 per pip.
EUR/GBP, US dollar account, with GBP/USD at 1.27. The pip is worth £10 on a standard lot. At 1.27 dollars per pound, that is $12.70.
EUR/USD, euro account, with EUR/USD at 1.08. The pip is worth $10, which converts to €9.26 in the account.
Pip value per standard lot at example prices
For a US dollar account. Pairs quoted in dollars are always $10 per pip per lot; the others move with the exchange rate, so use the calculator with today’s price.
| Pair | Example price used | Pip value, 1 lot |
|---|---|---|
| EUR/USD | any | $10.00 |
| GBP/USD | any | $10.00 |
| USD/JPY | 150.00 | $6.67 |
| USD/CHF | 0.8000 | $12.50 |
| USD/CAD | 1.3800 | $7.25 |
| EUR/GBP | GBP/USD 1.2700 | $12.70 |
| GBP/JPY | USD/JPY 150.00 | $6.67 |
| XAU/USD (100 oz) | any | $10.00 |
| XAG/USD (5,000 oz) | any | $50.00 |
Pips, points and pipettes
Platforms usually quote currency prices with one more decimal than the pip: five decimals for EUR/USD (1.08512) and three for USD/JPY (150.123). That last digit is a pipette, a tenth of a pip. MetaTrader calls it a point, so a stop of “200 points” in MetaTrader is 20 pips. Mixing up the two is one of the most common sizing mistakes new traders make: it makes every risk ten times larger or smaller than intended.
Metals are less standardized. Gold is usually quoted to two decimals, and brokers variously treat $0.01, $0.10 or $1.00 as the pip. Our default for gold is $0.10 on a 100-ounce lot, worth $10.00, and for silver $0.01 on 5,000 ounces, worth $50.00. Change the pip size and units per lot if your broker uses other values.
Using pip value to size a trade
Pip value turns a stop-loss distance into money. If one pip on one lot is worth $10.00 and your stop is 30 pips away, a full lot risks $300. To risk $100 instead, the position must be a third of a lot. Our lot size calculator does this conversion directly from your account balance and risk percentage.
Small positions work the same way. On 0.05 lots of EUR/USD, a pip is worth $0.50, so the same 30-pip stop risks about $15.
Limits of the calculation
- Exchange rates move. For pairs that need a conversion, the pip value changes as the conversion rate changes, even if the pair you trade stands still.
- Contract sizes differ. Some brokers use smaller lots or different contract sizes for metals, indices and cash accounts. Check the contract specification on your platform.
- The spread is a cost in pips. A 1.2-pip spread on one lot of EUR/USD costs about $12 every time you open a trade, before any price movement.