Forex Lot Size Explained: Standard, Mini and Micro Lots

A lot is how trade size is measured. One standard lot equals 100,000 units of the pair's base currency. Buy one lot of EUR/USD and you have bought 100,000 euros against dollars.

Volume decides everything else

Lot size is the one variable you control directly. Your stop-loss sets how many pips you are willing to lose; the lot converts those pips into money.

Worked example: a $1,000 account, 2% risk per trade, so $20. A 40-pip stop. Pip value must therefore be $0.50, which means 0.05 lots. Not "0.1 because it is a round number" — exactly 0.05.

What to trade at each account size

• $300–500. 0.01–0.02 lots. Yes, profits are counted in dollars rather than hundreds. In exchange the account survives a losing streak and you get to learn.
• $1,000–3,000. 0.03–0.10, depending on stop distance.
• $10,000+. 0.3–1.0, still at 1–2% risk per trade.

The classic beginner error is sizing from leverage instead of from the stop. Leverage tells you what you are allowed to open. The stop tells you what it costs you to open it.

Size a position against a specific stop with the lot size calculator.

Read next

• Leverage: how much you actually need
• Position sizing by risk
• Pips and points explained