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, in which part of the world and what role income and population have.
Keep on reading – it’s worth it!
The Search Demand for the Term “Prop Firm” Increased by 8,409% between January 2020 and March 2024.
The global monthly search volume for the term “prop firm” was 880 in January 2020. Until July 2022, the search volume increased continuously but remained stable, with linear growth below 10,000 monthly searches.
In August, there were more than 10,000 searches for the first time, and the search volume stayed below that level. The popularity rate continuously grew with impressive annual growth rates:
Annual Growth Rates:
- 2021 vs. 2020: +182%
- 2022 vs. 2021: +179%
- 2023 vs. 2022: +264%
Distribution of Prop Firm Searches per Country – 14 of the 195 Countries In the World are responsible for 50.6% of Demand
When looking at the distribution curve of searches for the term Prop Firm across countries worldwide, the United States leads the list with 9,900 searches, followed by India with 4,400 and the United Kingdom at #3 with 3,600 searches.
| Country | March 2024 |
|---|---|
| United States | 9,900 |
| India | 4,400 |
| United Kingdom | 3,600 |
| Italy | 3,600 |
| South Africa | 3,600 |
| Nigeria | 2,900 |
| Canada | 1,900 |
| Malaysia | 1,600 |
| Germany | 1,300 |
| Pakistan | 1,300 |
| Kenya | 1,000 |
| Australia | 880 |
| United Arab Emirates | 720 |
| Philippines | 720 |
| Singapore | 590 |
| Brazil | 480 |
| Indonesia | 480 |
| Japan | 390 |
| Vietnam | 260 |
| Mexico | 210 |
| Bangladesh | 170 |
| Ireland | 170 |
| Cyprus | 110 |
14 countries cummulate over 50.6% of the global search volume, while the remaining 49.4% is distributed across the remaining 181 countries.
Ratio Prop Firm Searches To Population By Country Top 10 – Italy Leads
| Country | Prop Firm Searches | Population (mn) | Ratio Searches per mn |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 9,900 | 341 | 29 |
| India | 4,400 | 1,439 | 3 |
| United Kingdom | 3,600 | 68 | 53 |
| Italy | 3,600 | 59 | 61 |
| South Africa | 3,600 | 61 | 59 |
| Nigeria | 2,900 | 228 | 13 |
| Canada | 1,900 | 39 | 49 |
| Malaysia | 1,600 | 35 | 46 |
| Germany | 1,300 | 83 | 16 |
| Pakistan | 1,300 | 244 | 5 |
Italy leads the list when looking at the country-specific searches relative to the population. 61 per 1 million people searched for the term prop firm in March 2024. South Africa and the United Kingdom follow at numbers 2 and 3.
Ratio Prop Firm Searches To Average Income Top 10 – Highest Spent In India
| Country | Prop Firm Searches | Annual Income ($) | Ratio Searches / Income |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 9,900 | 76,700 | 0,13 |
| India | 4,400 | 2,390 | 1,84 |
| United Kingdom | 3,600 | 49,240 | 0,07 |
| Italy | 3,600 | 38,200 | 0,09 |
| South Africa | 3,600 | 6,780 | 0,53 |
| Nigeria | 2,900 | 2,160 | 1,34 |
| Canada | 1,900 | 52,960 | 0,04 |
| Malaysia | 1,600 | 11,830 | 0,14 |
| Germany | 1,300 | 54,030 | 0,02 |
| Pakistan | 1,300 | 1,560 | 0,83 |
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 second lowest annual income, right after Pakistan, but it has the second highest search volume and the by far highest number of searches for the term “prop firm” per dollar “annual income.”
Type Of Prop Firms Searched – Forex Leads ahead for Futures by +13%
| Search Term | Global Searches |
|---|---|
| Prop Firm Forex | 8,100 |
| Forex Prop Firm | 9,900 |
| Forex Trading Prop Firms | 260 |
| Prop Firm Futures | 1,600 |
| Futures Prop Firms | 12,100 |
| Futures Trading Prop Firms | 2,400 |
When it comes to asset-specific searches related to a prop firm, forex-trading related querries lead the list with a total of 18,200 searches in March 2024 among the top 3 querries. Futures-trading related prop firm querries follow closely with 16,100 total searches globally in March 2024.
Number of Prop Firms Relative To Asset Search Volume – Forex, CFDs and Crypto Lead
| Asset | Search Volume | Number of Prop Firms |
|---|---|---|
| Forex | 823,000 | 30+ |
| Futures | 1,110,000 | 10+ |
| Stocks | 1,160,000 | <5 |
| CFDs | 177,000 | 30+ |
| Crypto | 944,000 | 30+ |
Futures and Stocks are the most frequently used asset terms with global searches of 1,160,000 and 1,110,000. Crypto and Forex follow on places 3 and 4. Surprisingly, the number of prop firms does not relate to the popularity of assets.
- Forex and Crypto kind of correlate, with over 30 prop firms offering to trade those assets
- While stocks are the most popular asset globally, less than 5 prop firms offer this type of asset in their trading with a broad range of stocks.
The reason for this is multifold, but two aspects clearly stand out.
- The riskiest investment vehicles are those with the highest number of prop firms offering to trade the assets.
- Most prop companies offering assets like forex, stocks and crypto offer their assets to be traded via contracts for difference (CFDs), which are prohibited from trading for residents of the United States.
- If trading of stocks is allowed, typically only high-market-cap companies are available for trading, and once again, only via CFDs.
- Contracts for difference mainly dominate the European region, whith the lowest search volume, but it attracts most customers, even if the markups are high, spreads are bad and trade executions often lag.
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 Republi | 1 |
| Hong Kong | 1 |
| Switzerland | 1 |
| British Virgin Islands | 1 |
| Hungary | 1 |
| Netherlands | 1 |
| Spain | 1 |
| Liechtenstein | 1 |
Out of 40 analyzed prop firms:
- 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, Hong Kong, Switzerland, British Virgin Islands, Hungary, Netherlands, Spain and Liechtenstein.
Trading Growth +1,264% vs. Investing Growth +240% between 12/20215 and 04/2024
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 itself.
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 0.823 million searches for trading.
Yet, things have changed significantly since December 2021.
The demand for the term investing fell nearly 50%, from 6.1 million to 3.4 million searches monthly.
At the same time, trading further grew in popularity and nearly doubled from 0.823 million monthly searches in December 2021 to 1.5 million monthly global searches in April 2024.
From an absolute value objective, there are still more searches for investing, but the percentage gap in between is now much smaller.
Look at the chart. The trend of higher demand for “trading” terms has never reversed (yet).
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. Another potential reason could be that the overall budget a family has to invest shrunk due to high inflation numbers, forcing the investor to try to make more money with less capital in higher-risk financial market activities.