Who wins and who loses in F&O? SEBI’s FY26 study, explained
SEBI followed up to 98 lakh individual traders at India’s 15 biggest brokers through FY25 and FY26. Fewer people traded F&O in FY26 and total losses fell, but most traders still lost money. Explore the findings below, starting with your own profile.
Pick a profile. How many in 100 lost money in FY26?
of individual F&O traders made a net loss in FY26, down from 90.9% in FY25.
Lost money Made money
Where did traders’ losses go?
Gross profit and loss by type of trader, before costs. One group’s loss is another group’s gain.
- Proprietary traders+₹44,483 cr
- Foreign investors (FPIs)+₹13,896 cr
- Corporates+₹8,092 cr
- Partnership firms / LLPs+₹2,953 cr
- Mutual funds+₹2,595 cr
- Banks, insurers and other DIIs+₹225 cr
- Proprietary traders+₹45,955 cr
- Foreign investors (FPIs)+₹31,085 cr
- Corporates+₹10,392 cr
- Mutual funds+₹5,613 cr
- Partnership firms / LLPs+₹4,737 cr
- Banks, insurers and other DIIs+₹101 cr
Eight findings that matter
SEBI compared FY25 (April 2024 to March 2025) with FY26 (April 2025 to March 2026), the two years around its tighter F&O rules.
- 1
Losses fell, but stayed huge. Individuals lost ₹91,685 crore in FY26, 18% less than the revised ₹1.12 lakh crore of FY25.
- 2
Fewer losers, bigger losses each. Loss-makers fell from 90.9% to 87.7%, yet the average loss per trader rose to ₹1.17 lakh.
- 3
The crowd thinned for the first time in a decade. Active traders fell 18%, from 106.2 lakh to 87.5 lakh. Nearly 46 lakh FY25 traders did not return.
- 4
Options are where the money goes, and is lost. 93% of traders used only options, and options caused 92% of all individual losses.
- 5
Expiry day still rules. 59% of index options turnover happened on the day of expiry in FY26, down from 70% in FY25.
- 6
The young and the small lose more often. 89% of under-30s lost money, and traders with portfolios under ₹1 lakh took 70% of losses.
- 7
Algorithms took the profits. Proprietary firms and foreign investors earned most of the gains, and 99% of their profit came from algo trading.
- 8
Costs barely moved. Individuals paid about ₹25,000 crore in trading costs each year; STT alone rose 35% in FY26.
Total losses fell, but each loser lost more
SEBI measured realised profit or loss after transaction costs for individuals, HUFs, NRIs, sole proprietors and PMS clients.
FY25₹1.12 lakh cr
−18%FY26₹91,685 cr
FY2590.9%
−3.2 ptsFY2687.7%
FY25₹1.13 lakh
+2%FY26₹1.17 lakh
Losers lose more than winners win
In FY26 the typical loss was 21% bigger than the typical gain. And there were about seven losers for every winner.
A small group carries most of the damage
Share of traders
Share of total losses
About 23% of traders accounted for nearly 90% of all losses. Options alone produced 92% of individual losses, and loss-makers were 87.7% in options against 66% in futures.
For the first time since FY16, the crowd shrank
Active individual traders in equity F&O, in lakh. The drop was steepest among people trading less than ₹10,000 a year.
From 7.3 lakh traders in FY15 to a peak of 106.2 lakh in FY25, then down 18% to 87.5 lakh in FY26.
More people left than joined
FY26 was the first year exits beat entries: 45.7 lakh left while only 20.8 lakh arrived, a net fall of 24.9 lakh.
Fewer first-timers
- 59%FY22
- 44%FY23
- 45%FY24
- 32%FY25
- 22%FY26
Share of each year’s traders who were new to F&O. People opening their first demat account and trading F&O in the same year fell from 35.3 lakh in FY22 to 4.7 lakh in FY26.
Young, lower-income and thinly invested traders lose most
Loss-makers in FY26 by profile, and how each group’s share of losses compares with its share of trading.
Age
43%
of F&O traders are under 30 (31% in FY22)
Income
3 in 4
traders earn under ₹5 lakh a year
Product
93%
of traders used only options
Losses land hardest on the smallest accounts
35% of F&O traders (about 43 lakh people) held no shares at all at the end of FY26. Traders from beyond India’s top 30 cities are now about two-thirds of all F&O traders and nearly half of turnover.
Most index options are traded hours before they expire
Move the slider to see how much index options turnover happened within that many days of expiry.
On expiry day itself, the share rose from 38% in FY22 to 70% in FY25, then eased to 59% in FY26 after SEBI’s measures. Contracts with more than a week to expiry made up only about 3% of turnover.
Index options turnover: dip, then rebound
Average daily premium turnover in index options. Within two quarters of the rules, index options traders fell 26.8%, but those who stayed traded 12.3% more each.
Algorithms and big firms collect the gains
Gross trading profit or loss by type of trader, before costs. Non-individual categories made money in both years.
FPI profits fell 55% in FY26; proprietary traders’ fell just 3%.
99%
of the profits of foreign investors and proprietary traders came from algo trading entities.
75%
of proprietary traders’ FY26 profit went to just the top 10 firms.
−₹1,18,396 cr
lost over FY25 and FY26 by individuals trading without algos, against −₹51,728 crore by individuals using them.
The meter keeps running whether you win or lose
Brokerage, securities transaction tax (STT), exchange fees and clearing charges paid by individual F&O traders.
What the cost is made of
STT collected from individuals grew more than five times between FY22 and FY26. “Other” covers exchange, clearing and remaining charges (our calculation from SEBI’s shares).
Retail traders lose in leveraged products everywhere
Share of retail participants losing money in derivatives and leveraged products, from the studies SEBI cites.
Studies cover different products and years, so treat this as a rough comparison. Brazil’s figure is for day traders who kept going for more than 300 days.
How not to be part of the 87.7%
The data does not say F&O is impossible. It says untrained, under-capitalised, expiry-day trading loses money very reliably.
- 1Treat expiry day with respect
Most of the money in index options now changes hands on expiry day itself. Prices move fastest then, and cheap options can go to zero within hours.
- 2Know who is on the other side
The profits went mostly to firms using algorithms and fast execution. If you trade without a plan, you are competing with them on their home ground.
- 3Count the costs before the trade
₹25,000 crore a year goes on brokerage, taxes and charges. Frequent small trades can lose money even when your direction is right.
- 4Build a base before leverage
Traders with no or tiny equity portfolios took a large share of losses. Learn investing and risk first, then add derivatives slowly.
Learn options with a risk-first method
Our courses in New Delhi teach position sizing, option pricing and trade planning on live markets before any strategy. Ask about the next batch and fees.
Frequently asked questions
Short answers based on the SEBI report.
What does SEBI’s FY25-FY26 F&O study say?
Individual traders’ net losses in equity F&O fell 18% to ₹91,685 crore in FY26, from ₹1.12 lakh crore in FY25. 87.7% of individuals still lost money, and the average loss per trader rose slightly to ₹1.17 lakh. The number of active individual traders fell 18% to 87.5 lakh, the first fall since FY16.
What percentage of F&O traders lose money in India?
87.7% of individual traders made a net loss in FY26, after transaction costs, compared with 90.9% in FY25. In options it was 87.7%; in futures it was 66%.
Who makes money in F&O if retail traders lose?
In FY26 proprietary trading firms made the largest gross profit (about ₹44,483 crore), followed by foreign portfolio investors (about ₹13,896 crore), corporates, partnership firms and mutual funds. SEBI found that 99% of the profits of FPIs and proprietary traders came from entities using algorithmic trading.
Why do young traders lose more in F&O?
SEBI does not give one cause, but its data shows traders below 30 are now 43% of all F&O traders, and 89% of them lost money in FY26, compared with 81% of traders above 60. Lower-income traders and those with small or no equity portfolios also lost more often.
How much do F&O traders pay in costs?
Individuals paid about ₹25,000 crore in transaction costs in each of FY25 and FY26: brokerage, securities transaction tax (STT), exchange and clearing charges. STT paid by individuals rose 35% to ₹6,645 crore in FY26.
Did SEBI’s new F&O rules work?
After the November 2024 measures, the number of index options traders fell about 27% within two quarters and expiry-day trading moderated. But index options turnover recovered strongly in the second half of FY26, and most traders still lost money. SEBI says its analysis does not prove cause and effect.
Where can I download the original SEBI report?
Use the “Download the original SEBI report” button on this page. It opens the 91-page PDF on SEBI’s website.
Read the full SEBI report
“Study: Profitability of Individual Traders in the Equity Derivatives Segment (FY25-FY26)”, Securities and Exchange Board of India, August 2026. 91 pages, PDF.
How SEBI measured this
Trader-level data comes from the 15 largest brokers by individual F&O turnover: 98.1 lakh traders in FY25 and 78.6 lakh in FY26, about 90% of all individual traders. Market-wide figures come from NSE and BSE. “Individuals” includes resident individuals, HUFs, NRIs, sole proprietors and PMS clients. Profit or loss is realised on closed positions, net of brokerage, STT, exchange and clearing charges; open positions and physically settled contracts are left out. Portfolio data covers 1.23 crore investors from depository records. SEBI notes that its analysis shows associations, not cause and effect.
This page is an independent, educational summary written by 9AM Traders Academy. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by SEBI. All figures come from the SEBI report linked above; anything we calculated is labelled as ours. Nothing here is investment advice. Trading in derivatives carries a high risk of loss. Also read our summary of SEBI’s 2025 study on F&O and cash market growth.