What Is a Lot? Standard, Mini and Micro Explained

A lot is the standardized unit size for a forex trade. Instead of choosing an arbitrary number of currency units, traders pick from a small set of standard lot sizes.

The three main lot sizes

A standard lot is 100,000 units of the base currency. A mini lot is 10,000 units — one-tenth the size. A micro lot is 1,000 units — one-hundredth the size. Some brokers also offer nano lots of 100 units for even smaller position sizes.

How lot size affects pip value

Lot size directly determines how much money each pip of movement is worth. On a standard lot of EUR/USD, one pip is typically worth about $10. On a mini lot, roughly $1 per pip. On a micro lot, about $0.10 per pip — small enough for beginners to practice with real money at low risk.

Why lot size matters for risk

Choosing the right lot size is one of the main ways to control risk. Trading a standard lot with a small account can wipe out your balance quickly if the market moves against you, while a micro lot lets you take a position with much smaller dollar swings per pip.

Key takeaway

Lot size is the lever that connects pip movement to actual profit or loss in your account currency. Beginners are usually better off starting with mini or micro lots until they’re comfortable with risk management.