Retail Options Trading Statistics: Market Share, 0DTE Trends and Trader Data
By VolRadar Editorial · sources reviewed May 2026 · 10/18 figures live
OCC-cleared contracts grew from ~5.0B in 2019 to ~15.2B in 2025
Annual OCC-cleared contracts, including options and futures — a decade of near-uninterrupted growth.
OCC clearing volume has roughly tripled since 2019 — the structural backdrop to retail's rising share in US options.
OCC total cleared contracts (options + futures). Annual OCC figures, rounded.
Retail Options Trading: Key Statistics
| Metric | Latest benchmark | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Retail share of options volume (NYSE) | 45% | 2023 |
| Customer share (retail + institutional) | 45.8% | Aug 2025 |
| Retail volume in ≤5-day expiries | 56% | 2023 |
| Total US options volume | 15.2B | 2025 |
How Much of the Options Market Is Retail?
NYSE estimated retail at 45% of US listed-options volume in 2023, down from a 48% peak in 2022.
Source: NYSE, Jul 2023
Retail participation is estimated from broker-flow, trade-size and auction proxies; methodologies differ, so we show source + period beside each figure rather than one continuous line. Earlier NYSE work put retail near 48% at its 2022 peak and 45% in 2023 (a useful historical benchmark). On MEMX, customers (retail and institutional) were 45.8% of capacity in August 2025 — a customer figure, not a retail-only share.
Retail Options Trading Volume and Growth
US options volume reached a record 15.2B contracts in 2025, and the pace has kept climbing — to 68,885,328 contracts ADV average daily volume through April 2026 (OCC). The chart at the top of this page shows the full annual trajectory.
Retail Traders and 0DTE Options
On MEMX Options, retail accounts for roughly 40% of SPY 0DTE volume.
Sources: MEMX, NYSE
Same-day and short-dated trading has become structural. On MEMX, retail is roughly 40% of SPY 0DTE volume, and 0–1 day-to-expiry contracts grew to Nearly 31% of all options volume by 2023 (NYSE) — up from just over 12% in 2019.
Short-Dated Options Trading Behavior
Retail concentrates in short maturities. As a historical benchmark, NYSE found about 56% of retail volume was in contracts expiring within five days in late 2023 (up from roughly 35% in 2019), and 0–1 day contracts rose to Nearly 31% of all options volume by Sept 2023 — up from just over 12% in 2019.
Methodology and Source Notes
Each statistic carries a primary source, coverage period and review date — see the Statistics Lab data standards and metric methodology. Figures display only after independent verification.
Frequently Asked Questions
What percentage of options trading is retail?
NYSE estimated retail participation at 45% in July 2023 (and 48% at its 2022 peak). MEMX separately reported a 45.8% customer share, which includes both retail and institutional customers. Methodologies and scopes differ, so these are not directly comparable.
What share of 0DTE options volume comes from retail traders?
On SPY, roughly 40% of 0DTE volume is retail (MEMX). More broadly, 0–1 day-to-expiry contracts grew to nearly 31% of all options volume by 2023 (NYSE), up from just over 12% in 2019 — same-day and short-dated trading has become a structural part of the market.
How quickly has retail options activity grown?
Sharply. US options volume reached a record 15.2 billion contracts in 2025, and average daily volume has kept climbing — to about 68.9 million contracts through April 2026 (OCC). Retail flow has been a major driver of that record growth over the past decade.
Are retail options traders profitable?
On average, retail option buyers tend to lose. De Silva, So & Smith found 5–9% average losses around earnings (10–14% for high-volatility announcements), and Bryzgalova, Pavlova & Sikorskaya found retail favoured costly weekly options (12.6% average spreads) and lost money on average. The exact figure depends heavily on the proxy, holding period and method — so we summarise each study with its caveat. Educational information, not advice.
Why do academic studies disagree about retail trader performance?
Because they measure different things. Results swing on trade direction (buyers versus sellers), holding period, and how performance is valued. A study of short-dated directional buys around earnings shows far larger losses than one covering all retail positions over longer windows. We compare the studies side by side rather than citing a single figure.
Do 80% of options expire worthless?
No — the "80% expire worthless" claim is not a reliable benchmark. Many contracts are closed or offset before expiration, and others are exercised, so the share that actually expires worthless is far smaller. Any honest figure has to separate exercised, closed and expired contracts. We will publish exact figures once a dated OCC resolution table is verified.
Why do retail traders prefer short-dated options?
Short-dated contracts can require less upfront premium and reach expiry more quickly, which may help explain their popularity. NYSE found that 56% of retail options volume was concentrated in contracts expiring within five days in its 2023 analysis, up from roughly 35% in 2019 — a clear shift toward short maturities.
Sources
- [1] NYSE (Steven W. Poser, Director of Research) — Trends in Options Trading link
- [2] MEMX — Retail Trading Insights link
- [3] OCC (Options Clearing Corporation) — OCC Annual 2025 and December 2025 Volume link
- [4] de Silva (Stanford GSB), So (MIT Sloan), Smith (Stanford GSB) — Losing is Optional: Retail Option Trading and Expected Announcement Volatility link
- [5] Bryzgalova, Pavlova & Sikorskaya (London Business School) — Retail Trading in Options and the Rise of the Big Three Wholesalers link
- [6] OCC (Options Clearing Corporation) — OCC April 2026 Monthly Volume Report link