RMB maintains 6th place with 2.88% of global payment share: SWIFT data - Trade Treasury Payments

The Chinese RMB maintains its position as the sixth most active currency for global payments by value, capturing a market share of 2.88% in June 2025, as per the latest SWIFT RMB Tracker. This is the second consecutive month that the currency is ranked sixth. In May 2025, RMB lost its fifth ranking position as the Canadian Dollar surpassed it with a market share of 3.11% against RNB’s market share of 2.89%, creating concerns over China’s internationalisation efforts. 

The SWIFT RMB Tracker is published monthly and provides statistics on renminbi usage in international payments, trade finance, and foreign exchange markets, based on transaction data from over 11,000 financial institutions worldwide. 

According to the July 2025 RMB Tracker, the RMB’s share in global payments ranks it behind the US dollar (47.19%), the euro (23.87%), the British pound (7.59%), the Japanese yen (3.84%), and the Canadian dollar (3.43%). When considering international payments excluding transactions within the Eurozone, the RMB similarly holds the 6th position with a share of 2.12%.

RMB’s month-on-month performance on a decline 

June 2025 showed modest growth for RMB-denominated transactions, with payments increasing by 2.57% compared to May 2025. However, this growth rate fell slightly below the overall increase of 2.85% observed across all payment currencies, indicating that the RMB is not gaining market share relative to other major currencies.

This performance continues a trend observed over the past 18 months. From its peak position in December 2023, when it ranked 4th with a 4.74% share of global payments, the RMB has experienced a gradual decline:

This represents a decline of around 39% in global payment share over an 18-month period, a significant change in the currency’s international standing.

Offshore RMB activity still dominant by Hong Kong

A striking feature of RMB internationalisation is the concentrated nature of its offshore transactions. Hong Kong continues to dominate as the primary offshore RMB centre, processing 75.60% of all offshore RMB payments by value. This represents an overwhelming lead compared to other geographies.

There is a significant difference between the top two ranking countries for offshore RMB activities, with a difference of almost 12x between Hong Kong at 75.60% and the United Kingdom at 6.41%. While this concentration creates efficiency for China through economies of scale in clearing and settlement, it also introduces potential vulnerability by establishing a single point of dependency in the RMB’s international infrastructure. 

RMB’s specialised markets performance

Despite its declining share in global payments over the years, the RMB maintains stronger positions in specialised financial markets. This includes:

Trade finance: The RMB ranks 9th in the global trade finance market with a 5.94% share, demonstrating its continued relevance in international trade transactions despite trailing far behind the US dollar’s dominant 82.75% share.

Foreign exchange market: In FX spot transactions, the RMB holds the 6th position globally, aligning with its overall payments ranking. The United Kingdom leads in RMB FX transactions with 38.41% of the market, followed by the United States at 14.81%, Hong Kong at 10.09%, and France at 9.31%.

Future outlook for China

The data from the July 2025 SWIFT RMB Tracker showcases a nuanced picture of the Chinese currency’s international standing. The RMB’s modest month-on-month growth of 2.57%, trailing the broader market’s 2.85% expansion, suggests the currency has reached a plateau in its international adoption. After nearly 40% erosion in market share since December 2023, the RMB appears to have stabilised at its current position, but without clear momentum toward reclaiming its previous standing.

What we can say is that rather than emerging as a direct challenger to dominant reserve currencies, the RMB has settled into a specialised role, primarily serving China’s own extensive trade networks and gradually expanding its footprint in specific financial niches.

Read the full report here.