Pip value explained: how to calculate it for any pair, gold and indices

Every lot size calculation needs one number: what a single pip is worth. Get it right and every stop costs exactly what you planned. Get it wrong, usually by forgetting which currency the pip is paid in, and your £20 risk quietly becomes £30.

What is a pip?

A pip is the standard unit for measuring a price move. For most currency pairs it's the fourth decimal place, 0.0001. For pairs quoted in yen it's the second, 0.01.

Most brokers now quote one extra digit (EURUSD at 1.08345 rather than 1.0834). That last digit is a point, or pipette: 10 points = 1 pip. MetaTrader measures stops in points, so a “200” in an MT4 box is 20 pips.

The formula

One standard lot is 100,000 units. So on any pair where the pip is 0.0001, one lot earns 10 units of the quote currency per pip. The only job left is converting that into your account currency.

Three cases cover almost everything

1. The pair is quoted in your account currency

EURGBP on a pound account: 0.0001 × 100,000 = £10 per pip per lot. No conversion needed.

2. The pair is quoted in US dollars

EURUSD, GBPUSD, AUDUSD, NZDUSD: $10 per pip per lot. On a pound account, divide by GBPUSD. At 1.34, that's £7.46.

3. The pair is quoted in yen (or another currency)

USDJPY, GBPJPY, EURJPY: the pip is 0.01, so 0.01 × 100,000 = ¥1,000 per pip per lot. With USDJPY at 150 that's $6.67, which at GBPUSD 1.34 is about £4.98. The same idea works for USDCAD (paid in Canadian dollars) or USDCHF (paid in francs).

Pip value table for a pound account

Illustrative rates: GBPUSD 1.34, USDJPY 150, USDCAD 1.38. Pip values move with exchange rates, so use today's prices for real trades.

Gold and indices

Gold works like a dollar pair with a different pip: one lot is 100 ounces, a pip is usually $0.10, so a pip is worth $10 per lot and a full $1 move is $100. There's a full breakdown in gold lot sizes explained.

Indices such as NAS100, US30 and GER40 move in points, and the value of a point per lot is set by each broker: $1, $10 and $20 are all common. Never assume. See NAS100 and US30 lot size.

Let MetaTrader tell you

For any symbol, right-click it in Market Watch and choose Specification. The tick size and tick value tell you exactly what the smallest move is worth on 1.00 lot, already converted into your account currency on most brokers. Then:

Putting it to work

Pip value is the bridge between your stop and your lot size. Once you know it:

On a £2,000 account risking 1% (£20) with a 25-pip stop on EURUSD: 25 × £7.46 = £186.57 per lot, so £20 ÷ £186.57 = 0.10 lots. More worked examples are in how to calculate lot size, or let the free lot size calculator do it.

Educational content only, not financial advice. Trading carries a high level of risk and you can lose more than you expect. Examples use illustrative prices.