Margin is the deposit your broker holds to keep a trade open. Get it wrong and you'll face a margin call — or worse, an automatic liquidation. Here's everything you need to know.
Enter your pair, leverage, and position size to get exact margin requirements before placing a trade.
In forex trading, margin is the amount of money your broker requires you to deposit as collateral to open and maintain a leveraged position. It is not a fee or a cost — it's a good-faith deposit that remains yours, but is held by the broker as security while the trade is active.
Think of it this way: you want to control a $100,000 position (1 standard lot) but you only have $1,000 in your account. Your broker allows you to do this by holding your $1,000 as margin and lending you the remaining $99,000. That's leverage of 100:1.
When the position closes — profitably or at a loss — the margin is released back into your account (adjusted for the P&L).
These two terms are directly related but describe the same relationship from opposite angles:
To calculate how much margin you need to open a position:
At 1:100 leverage, you need $1,085 in your account to open a 1-lot EUR/USD position. At 1:500 leverage, you only need $217 — but your exposure remains the same $108,500.
Here's how different leverage levels affect the margin required to open a $10,000 notional position:
| Leverage | Margin % | Required Margin ($10,000 position) | Common Jurisdiction |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1:10 | 10% | $1,000 | Japan (retail) |
| 1:20 | 5% | $500 | EU/UK ESMA regulated |
| 1:30 | 3.33% | $333 | EU major pairs max |
| 1:50 | 2% | $200 | US NFA regulated |
| 1:100 | 1% | $100 | Offshore/global brokers |
| 1:200 | 0.5% | $50 | Global offshore |
| 1:500 | 0.2% | $20 | Exness, global offshore |
Higher leverage means lower margin requirements — but it also means smaller adverse moves can trigger a margin call. A $20 margin on a $10,000 position has essentially no buffer.
Exness shows real-time margin levels in your account dashboard. Supports up to 1:unlimited on select accounts. Always know your margin status.
Open Exness Account →Your account equity is divided into two parts while you have open positions:
Free margin is also your buffer against adverse price moves. If your open trades move against you and your equity falls close to your used margin, you're approaching a margin call.
A margin call occurs when your account equity drops below a required threshold — typically 50–100% of your used margin, depending on the broker. At this point, the broker either:
At Exness, the stop-out level is typically 0–20%, meaning positions can be closed extremely quickly when equity approaches zero. Most reputable brokers execute stop-outs at 50% margin level to protect traders from negative balances.
The best way to avoid margin calls is proper position sizing — never over-leveraging, and always knowing how much free margin you have before opening a new trade.
Rather than calculating manually before every trade, use the free Margin Calculator. Input your:
The calculator instantly shows your required margin in your account currency. It's an essential step in your pre-trade checklist alongside the pip calculator and position size calculator.
Exness shows real-time margin levels, offers flexible leverage, and provides a free demo to test your margin management strategy.
Open Exness Account — Free →