Only 15% of foreign exchange traders have been profitable, according to data gathered by ForexSchoolOnline.com, which also finds that 72% of them have had no experience in other markets before entering the business.

The study was based on more than 400 trader results from 49 countries around the world, says the company, which offers online courses on forex trading and provides an online platform for traders to exchange views about the business. According to the survey taken this year, 37% of the traders say they are either breaking even or profitable, while 63% say they are unprofitable.

About 28% of the traders are aged between 35 and 44 years, followed by those aged 18 to 34 at 27%, those above 55 years at 24% and those aged 45 to 54 years at 21%. In terms of experience, 39% of the traders have been involved in forex trading between one and three years, followed by those trading forex for less than a year at 31% ,while 23%  have been trading forex between four to nine years. Only 7% of the traders have been in the business for at least a decade.

Consequently, experience has had an impact on their profitability. Most profitable traders have had an average experience of 5.4 years, compared with 2.5 years for unprofitable traders. On self-improvement, 65% of the profitable traders say they want to work on their mindset and have a good trading plan in place. On the other hand, about 49% of unprofitable traders have focused on better entries. Both groups have spent an equal time of three hours daily on forex trading.

With regard to their aspirations, 64% of the traders are focused on getting a higher win rate as opposed to high rewards. Notably, the traders also wish to increase their chances of a high win rate or reward with 43% saying their want to improve their trade rules and plan. On the other hand, 30% are looking to find better trade entries.

More than half of the traders, 53%, have invested in materials to help them in their trading. Such materials include courses, books or strategy testers. The remaining 47% have not purchased any material to enhance their trading performance. During the trading week, 50% of the respondents say they spend some of their time online reading lessons and watching videos, while 7% say they visit social media and forums. While 97% of the traders focus on forex, about 43% also trade in gold, 24% in stocks, and 9% in cryptocurrencies.