We’ve analyzed the prop firm industry from its early beginnings until now. The following statistics clearly show how this type of business grew at the fastest possible pace within a short period.
The mind-blowing facts clearly show what type of prop firms are the most popular ones, and what role income and population have. The biggest surprise of the brand new data as of 6/2026 is the significant growth of futures prop firm demand.
Keep on reading – it’s worth it!
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The Search Demand for the Term “Prop Firm” Increased by 6,775% between January 2020 and June 2026.
The global monthly search volume for the term “prop firm” was 880 in January 2020. Until October 2022, the search volume increased continuously but remained stable, with linear growth below 10,000 monthly searches.
In November 2022, there were more than 10,000 searches for the first time. In Q2/2025, there was an all-time high reached with 49,500 monthly searches, which stabilized, before reaching a new high at 60,500 searches in 2026. The popularity rate continuously grew with impressive annual growth rates:
Annual Growth Rates:
- 2021 vs. 2020: +137%
- 2022 vs. 2021: +163%
- 2023 vs. 2022: +250%
- 2024 vs. 2023: +36%
- 2025 vs. 2024: +30%
- H1 2026 vs. H2 2025: +26%
Type Of Prop Firms Searched – Futures Now Clearly Lead vs. Forex
| Search Term | Global Searches |
|---|---|
| Prop Firm Forex | 4,400 |
| Forex Prop Firm | 4,400 |
| Forex Trading Prop Firms | 210 |
| Best Forex Prop Firms | 1,000 |
| Prop Firm Futures | 1,600 |
| Futures Prop Firms | 18,100 |
| Futures Trading Prop Firms | 1,000 |
| Best Futures Prop Firms | 4,400 |
When it comes to asset-specific searches related to a prop firm, forex-trading related queries had a total of 10,010 searches in June 2026 among the top 4 queries. Futures-trading related prop firm queries now skyrocket 25,100 total searches globally in June 2026.
This is one of the most insightful findings in our updated statistics as of 6/2026. Until Q2/2025, futures and forex-related queries were balanced, but now futures clearly lead across the industry. We saw confirmation in this trend with former forex prop firms adding futures trading to their offering in 2025. Looking back to 2024, forex search demand sat at 18,260 per month against 16,100 for futures. So forex was still ahead through 2024, and the crossover didn’t show up in search data until well into 2025. That lag matters, because the structural damage to the forex side had already happened by then. Search behavior just took roughly a year to catch up.
One of the reasons for the sharp decline in forex props is the MetaTrader prop firm meltdown, which began February 2, 2024, when MetaQuotes (owner of MT4/MT5) cut off access for major forex prop firms. The reason behind the MetaQuotes measure was the heavy use of free MetaTrader licenses for prop firm challenges. As a result, The Funded Trader paused operations, True Forex Funds and SurgeTrader shut down 3 months later, and various firms moved to alternative platforms like DXtrade and Match-Trader to let clients trade forex pairs.
Distribution of Prop Firm Searches per Country – 7 of the 195 Countries In the World are responsible for 50% of Search Demand
When looking at the distribution curve of searches for the term Prop Firm across countries worldwide, India leads the list (12,100 monthly searches), followed by the United States (8,100 monthly searches) and Indonesia and South Africa (2,400 monthly searches both).
7 countries cumulate to about 50% of the global search volume (30,400 out of 60,500 global searches as of June 2026), while the remaining 50% is distributed across the remaining 188 countries.
The market with the most tremendous growth is India, where the monthly searches gained by more than 50% within 6 months. Another interesting fact is that countries where trading with various prop firms are prohibited, see good growth rates too (e.g., Nigeria and South Africa). Pakistan and the Philippines doubled the search volume.
| Country | June 2026 |
|---|---|
| India | 12,100 |
| United States | 8,100 |
| Indonesia | 2,400 |
| South Africa | 2,400 |
| United Kingdom | 1,900 |
| Nigeria | 1,900 |
| Italy | 1,600 |
| Canada | 1,600 |
| Malaysia | 1,300 |
| Pakistan | 1,300 |
| Germany | 880 |
| Australia | 720 |
| Philippines | 720 |
| Kenya | 590 |
| United Arab Emirates | 480 |
| Singapore | 480 |
| Brazil | 480 |
| Bangladesh | 390 |
| Japan | 260 |
| Vietnam | 210 |
| Mexico | 140 |
| Ireland | 70 |
| Cyprus | 70 |
Ratio Prop Firm Searches To Population By Country Top 10 – Canada Leads
| Country | Prop Firm Searches | Population (mn) | Ratio Searches per mn |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | 1,600 | 41 | 39 |
| South Africa | 2,400 | 66 | 36 |
| Malaysia | 1,300 | 36 | 36 |
| United Kingdom | 1,900 | 70 | 27 |
| Italy | 1,600 | 59 | 27 |
| United States | 8,100 | 349 | 23 |
| Germany | 880 | 84 | 10 |
| Indonesia | 2,400 | 288 | 8 |
| India | 12,100 | 1478 | 8 |
| Nigeria | 1,900 | 242 | 8 |
Canada leads the list when looking at the country-specific searches relative to the population (39 per 1 million people searched for the term prop firm in June 2026). South Africa and Malaysia follow at numbers 2 and 3.
Ratio Prop Firm Searches To Average Income Top 10 – Highest Searches per Dollar Income In India
| Country | Prop Firm Searches | Annual Income (US$) | Ratio Searches / Income |
|---|---|---|---|
| India | 12,100 | 2,760 | 4.38 |
| Nigeria | 1,900 | 1,360 | 1.40 |
| Indonesia | 2,400 | 5,120 | 0.47 |
| South Africa | 2,400 | 6,270 | 0.38 |
| Malaysia | 1,300 | 12,380 | 0.11 |
| United States | 8,100 | 88,810 | 0.09 |
| Italy | 1,600 | 42,080 | 0.04 |
| United Kingdom | 1,900 | 61,340 | 0.03 |
| Canada | 1,600 | 56,420 | 0.03 |
| Germany | 880 | 60,200 | 0.01 |
The ratio between the number of country-specific searches and the average annual income reveals that countries with the lowest average annual income are responsible for the most frequent searches per dollar of income.
India has the 2nd-lowest average annual income in this group but the highest prop firm search volume by far. Low income against high demand is what drives the ratio to 4.38, more than 3x Nigeria in 2nd place.
Asset Search Volume and Number of Prop Firms – Traders seldom search for CFDs, but often trade them in Prop Firms without knowing
| Asset | Search Volume | Number of Prop Firms |
|---|---|---|
| Stocks | 1,500,000 | <5 |
| Futures | 1,000,000 | 100+ |
| Crypto | 680,000 | 20+ |
| Forex | 673,000 | 100+ |
| CFDs | 165,000 | 100+ |
Stocks and Futures are the most frequently searched asset terms with global searches of over 1 million each. Crypto, Forex and CFDs follow in places 3, 4 and 5. Surprisingly, the number of prop firms does not relate to the popularity of assets.
A reason is: the lower the available leverage for trading via margin, the less likely a prop firm offers the asset to trade. When trading stocks, the leverage is typically limited to 1:4. So for each $1 in the account, $4 can be traded intraday (overnight only 1:2). In futures trading, the typical leverage is intraday between 1:50 and 1:100. In Forex, a leverage of 1:100, 1:400 or even 1:500 is possible in many countries (USA and Europe are more restricted).
But let’s get into the stats for another aspect. As you can see, only a few people search for CFDs (about 10% of people who search for stocks, and about 25% of people who search for crypto and forex). But, while traders typically are not interested in trading CFDs or inform themselves about CFDs (which you can see on the low search volume), they trade them in most cases when trading forex and crypto with a prop firm. The reason is that prop firms offering forex and crypto frequently use the less-regulated CFD market. The main disadvantages of CFDs are higher fees, higher bid-ask spreads, counterparty risk, leverage traps and regulatory restrictions. Just be aware of it when deciding to trade with a forex prop firm (regulation in the United States and Europe is stricter, which is why some firms offer separate conditions in those countries).
Most Prop Firms Have Their Headquarters In the United States – Top 10 – USA Leads
| Country | Prop Firms Headquarter Count |
|---|---|
| United States | 11 |
| United Arab Emirates | 10 |
| United Kingdom | 7 |
| Canada | 2 |
| Israel | 2 |
| Czech Republic | 1 |
| Hong Kong | 1 |
| British Virgin Islands | 1 |
| Hungary | 1 |
| Liechtenstein | 1 |
Out of the 40 leading prop firms analyzed:
- 11 have their headquarters in the United States.
- The second-most popular places for a prop firm headquarters are the United Arab Emirates (10) and the United Kingdom (7).
- Most US-prop firms are companies offering futures trading, while all companies in the United Arab Emirates offer forex trading.
- The remaining 12 prop firms are spread across the world with headquarters in Canada, Israel, Czech Republic, Hong Kong, British Virgin Islands, Hungary and Liechtenstein.
Trading Growth +1,264% vs. Investing Growth +240% between 12/2015 and 6/2026
Prop trading is a subcategory of trading. Most prop traders are day traders, and some are swing traders, but they are typically not long-term investors.
The growth in the popularity of prop firms and prop trading made us wonder if there is a correlation between trading and investing in terms of growth.
Overall, trading is typically not mentioned very positively, while investing articles are all over the place. But what do the numbers say?
We’ve compared the search term frequency for both investing and trading and also took a look at prop trading and day trading terms. The results are pretty surprising due to the enormous trend strength of trading.
But let the numbers speak for themselves.
If you compare the end point vs. the starting point, you notice that the number of monthly searches for “investing” is still higher than for “trading” in Google search. On the other side, the growth rate in “trading” is much higher than in “investing”. Investing grew from 1 million monthly searches in December 2015 to now 3.4 million monthly searches in June 2026 (+240%). Trading at the same time grew from 0.11 million monthly searches in December 2015 to now 1.5 million monthly searches in June 2026 (+1,264%).
Things are even more interesting if you split down both categories on the timeline and separate into two time frames.
2015-2021
In December 2015, the ratio was clear. 1 million global searches for “investing” per month vs. 110 thousand searches for “trading.” The growth rates for both were exceptional until December 2021, when “investing” searches hit an all-time record at 6.1 million global searches per month, and 0.8 million searches for “trading”. Yet, things have changed significantly since December 2021.
2021-2026
The demand for the term “investing” fell 44.26%, from 6.1 million in December 2021 to 3.4 million searches monthly in June 2026. At the same time, “trading” further grew in popularity and nearly doubled from 0.8 million monthly searches in December 2021 to 1.5 million monthly global searches in June 2026. The trend of demand for “trading” terms has never reversed since 2015.
From an absolute value objective, there are still more searches for investing, but the percentage gap in between is now much smaller.
We can only speculate about possible reasons. The most likely ones are that investors are looking for higher returns with active trading. Maybe they put the majority of liquidity now in high-yield savings accounts and speculate with a minimal part of their money in potentially higher-rewarded trading styles. The changes to the pattern day trading rule (effective June 2026, but announced earlier) and the subsequent demand for specific “day trading” searches underline the theory. The most significant growth now comes in day trading, with search numbers that grew from 27,100 in December 2015 to now 450,000 in June 2026. We are excited to see the numbers by the end of the year and expect continuous growth in day trading searches.