Currency Strength Meter

The ECB publishes each currency as units per 1 euro (EUR = 1). For the eight majors (USD, EUR, GBP, JPY, CHF, AUD, CAD, NZD) the calculation is:

1. Cross rate: price of A in B = rate_B / rate_A
2. Change over n fixings: change(A vs B) = (cross_now / cross_n_fixings_ago - 1) x 100
3. Strength: strength(A) = average of change(A vs B) over the seven other majors

Every cross comes from the same ECB fixing, so the euro used as the quoting currency cancels out and the result does not depend on the base currency. Each cross is counted from both sides, so the eight scores add up to roughly zero; the small remainder comes from percentage changes not being symmetric.

Limitations

• One observation per TARGET business day, from the 14:10 CET concertation published at around 16:00 CET. No weekend or TARGET-holiday fixings.
• Not intraday: moves between fixings are not captured, and the page checks for a new fixing at most once an hour.
• Every cross has equal weight. This is not a trade-weighted (effective) exchange rate index.
• The ECB publishes reference rates for information purposes only; they are not rates at which trades are executed.
• The figures describe past momentum. They are not a forecast, a recommendation or a trading signal.

A currency strength meter aggregates the performance of a single currency against every other major currency into one reading. So instead of looking at EUR/USD, EUR/GBP, EUR/JPY, EUR/AUD and so on separately, you get a single answer: has the euro gained or lost ground against the other majors over the window?

The table above is computed on our server from the ECB's euro foreign exchange reference rates, using the formula in the method section, so every figure can be reproduced from the ECB file. The TradingView chart further down is a separate, third-party live view and is not part of the calculation.

Traders use this kind of reading to see which currencies have moved most before looking at specific pairs, and to check whether a move in one pair is broad-based or specific to that pair.

Over the last 20 ECB fixings (10 September 2026 to 8 October 2026), the strongest major was the US dollar (USD) at +3.21% and the weakest the New Zealand dollar (NZD) at -1.56%, on average against the other seven.

JPY and CHF are often described as safe-haven currencies that tend to gain in risk-off periods, while AUD, NZD and CAD are commodity-linked and often move with risk appetite. Use the table together with our economic calendar to understand why a currency has moved, not just that it has.