What is the difference between Major and Minor pair?

[Shireen]

When you combine all major currencies, those that contain USD are considered as a major, the others that don't contain this currency are considered as minors.

• Major Currency is the EUR, USD, JPY, CHF, GBP, CAD, NZD.
• Exotic Pairs are any cross pairs that don't contain two major currencies.
• The major pairs have lots of volumes. Therefore, tend to attract most traders, which keeps the volume high and spread low.

 

[mrindice]

Three key characteristics that make majors and minors different are volatility, impact of unique (idiosyncratic factors), liquidity and spreads. You have to take them into account if you want to build proper strategy.

 

[Shing1985]

There are many types of currencies that you can invest in with FOREX – in fact, there are over 80 pairs to choose from.
MAJOR PAIRS
The most traded currency pairs are called ‘majors’ and they compose about 85% of the entire foreign exchange market. Note that they all include the USD. These major pairs are:
EUR/USD
USD/JPY
GBP/USD
AUD/USD
USD/CHF
NZD/USD
USD/CAD
MINOR PAIRS
Currency pairs that do not include the US Dollar are commonly known as ‘cross currency pairs’. A few examples will be
GBP/JPY
JPY/CAD

 

[Electric Rainbow]

Minor currency pairs include any two of the major currencies apart from the USD. Some of these pairs, including GBP/EUR and AUD/JPY represent pairs of countries with active trade relationships, providing significant liquidity.

 

[Aaron_0]

Major currency pairs include those with the USD, such as EUR/USD, GBP/USD, and USD/JPY, offering high volume, liquidity, and low spreads. Minor pairs don't involve the USD, like EUR/GBP or AUD/JPY, and tend to have less volume and higher spreads. Exotic pairs are less liquid, involving one major and one smaller currency.

 

[RainbowRain]

Another difference is that minor pairs or cross pairs often exhibit longer and more powerful trends, are more volatile than major pairs, and have wider spreads than major pairs.

 

[caribbean]

The easiest way to know the difference is looking for the US Dollar. Major pairs always have USD on one side, like EUR/USD or GBP/USD. Minor pairs don't have USD but they link other big currencies together. For example, EUR/GBP is a minor pair.

 

[sunar14]

Basically majors are the most liquid pairs and almost always include USD, while minors are crosses between major currencies but without USD, like EUR/GBP or AUD/JPY. The practical difference is usually spread, liquidity, volatility, and how clean the moves are during active sessions. For newer traders, majors are usually easier to read because the cost of being wrong is lower in spread/slippage terms