This page is an overview of index options trading volume on US exchanges. The tables below show daily average options trading volume by index option symbol in each year. The data includes volume from the CBOE group of options exchanges (CBOE, BATS, C2, EDGX). See also most active stocks and ETFs by options volume.
Index Options Volume in 2023
rank symbol avg_daily_volume 1. SPX = 2,917,385 2. VIX = 742,878 3. XSP = 64,904 4. RUT = 62,679 5. DJX = 5,075 6. NANOS = 2,435 7. MXEF = 1,864 8. MXEA = 1,517 9. NDX = 409 10. MRUT = 241 11. SPESG = 155 12. OEX = 121 13. XEO = 12 14. RLV = 1 15. RUI = 0 16. SIXM = 0 17. RLG = 0 18. SIXB = 0 19. SIXRE = 0 20. SIXU = 0
Most Active Index Options
By far the most active is the S&P500 index (SPX), with almost three million option contracts traded per day in 2023. Additionally, the mini S&P500 index options (XSP) come third with over 64 thousand contracts per day.
The second most popular index by options volume is the VIX (CBOE Volatility Index), although it lags behind the S&P500 by a wider margin than it used to. VIX options trading volume has fluctuated around 500-700 thousand daily contracts in the last 10 years, while SPX options volume tripled in the same period.
The third most active index is Russell 2000 (RUT) with over 62 thousand option contract traded per day.
All the other index options trade less than ten thousand contracts per day, on average.
Index Options Volume History
Jump to: 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011
2022
rank symbol avg_daily_volume 1. SPX = 2,224,776 2. VIX = 532,523 3. RUT = 44,603 4. XSP = 36,249 5. DJX = 4,381 6. MXEA = 1,977 7. MXEF = 1,631 8. NANOS = 665 9. MRUT = 207 10. OEX = 172 11. NDX = 122 12. SPESG = 25 13. XEO = 14 14. RUI = 4 15. RLV = 1 16. SIXU = 1 17. RLG = 1 18. SIXRE = 0 19. SIXB = 0
2021
rank symbol avg_daily_volume 1. SPX = 1,367,860 2. VIX = 522,477 3. RUT = 51,947 4. XSP = 19,817 5. DJX = 3,553 6. MXEF = 1,780 7. MXEA = 1,556 8. XEO = 956 9. MRUT = 291 10. OEX = 233 11. SPESG = 84 12. NDX = 19 13. SIXM = 2 14. SIXB = 1 15. SIXI = 1 16. RUI = 1 17. RLV = 0 18. RLG = 0 19. SIXRE = 0 20. UKXM = 0
2020
rank symbol avg_daily_volume 1. SPX = 1,236,955 2. VIX = 492,169 3. XSP = 43,802 4. RUT = 34,474 5. DJX = 4,202 6. MXEF = 1,299 7. MXEA = 660 8. OEX = 631 9. XEO = 123 10. NDX = 27 11. SPESG = 5 12. SIXU = 2 13. RLG = 1 14. RUI = 1 15. UKXM = 0 16. RLV = 0 17. SIXV = 0 18. SIXM = 0 19. SIXRE = 0
2019
rank symbol avg_daily_volume 1. SPX = 1,265,650 2. VIX = 502,490 3. XSP = 68,840 4. RUT = 37,921 5. DJX = 3,882 6. OEX = 1,454 7. MXEF = 1,055 8. XEO = 891 9. MXEA = 594 10. SIXRE = 7 11. RLG = 0 12. RUI = 0 13. SIXU = 0 14. SIXE = 0 15. SIXR = 0 16. RLV = 0 17. SIXI = 0 18. SIXT = 0 19. SIXB = 0
2018
rank symbol avg_daily_volume 1. SPX = 1,479,465 2. VIX = 667,213 3. RUT = 46,841 4. XSP = 19,423 5. DJX = 6,247 6. OEX = 2,018 7. MXEF = 599 8. MXEA = 448 9. NDX = 102 10. XEO = 86 11. MNX = 6 12. RUI = 1 13. RLG = 0 14. RLV = 0 15. RVX = 0
2017
rank symbol avg_daily_volume 1. SPX = 1,163,466 2. VIX = 722,356 3. RUT = 56,937 4. XSP = 14,313 5. DJX = 4,665 6. SPXPM = 2,654 7. OEX = 1,900 8. NDX = 1,572 9. MXEA = 293 10. MXEF = 208 11. XEO = 133 12. MNX = 33 13. RVX = 12 14. RUI = 0 15. RLG = 0 16. UKXM = 0
2016
rank symbol avg_daily_volume 1. SPX = 1,023,623 2. VIX = 588,279 3. RUT = 61,096 4. XSP = 11,448 5. SPXPM = 8,533 6. NDX = 8,120 7. DJX = 3,962 8. OEX = 3,641 9. XEO = 250 10. MXEF = 167 11. MXEA = 61 12. RVX = 29 13. RUI = 26 14. MNX = 8 15. UKXM = 0
2015
rank symbol avg_daily_volume 1. SPX = 938,620 2. VIX = 573,176 3. RUT = 67,280 4. SPXPM = 8,174 5. XSP = 7,639 6. NDX = 7,285 7. OEX = 5,026 8. DJX = 4,940 9. XEO = 702 10. OVX = 59 11. VXST = 35 12. MNX = 24 13. RVX = 3 14. MXEF = 2 15. GVZ = 1 16. VXEWZ = 0 17. MXEA = 0 18. VXEEM = 0 19. RUI = 0
2014
rank symbol avg_daily_volume 1. SPX = 938,620 2. VIX = 573,176 3. RUT = 67,280 4. SPXPM = 8,174 5. XSP = 7,639 6. NDX = 7,285 7. OEX = 5,026 8. DJX = 4,940 9. XEO = 702 10. OVX = 59 11. VXST = 35 12. MNX = 24 13. RVX = 3 14. MXEF = 2 15. GVZ = 1 16. VXEWZ = 0 17. MXEA = 0 18. VXEEM = 0 19. RUI = 0
2013
rank symbol avg_daily_volume 1. SPX = 823,369 2. VIX = 567,460 3. RUT = 40,925 4. NDX = 21,636 5. OEX = 9,396 6. SPXPM = 5,842 7. DJX = 4,467 8. XEO = 2,768 9. XSP = 1,395 10. MNX = 531 11. XSPAM = 152 12. GVZ = 22 13. RVX = 13 14. OVX = 12 15. VXEEM = 10 16. VXEWZ = 1 17. BACD = 0 18. GSSD = 0
2012
rank symbol avg_daily_volume 1. SPX = 697,829 2. VIX = 442,959 3. NDX = 27,857 4. RUT = 17,595 5. OEX = 15,886 6. DJX = 5,071 7. XEO = 3,528 8. MNX = 458 9. XSP = 320 10. GVZ = 4 11. VXEEM = 3 12. OVX = 2 13. VXEWZ = 2 14. BACD = 0 15. JPMD = 0
2011
rank symbol avg_daily_volume 1. SPX = 783,768 2. VIX = 388,845 3. RUT = 36,361 4. OEX = 27,049 5. NDX = 21,076 6. DJX = 6,642 7. XEO = 4,957 8. MNX = 1,079 9. XSP = 367 10. GVZ = 3 11. BACD = 0 12. GSSD = 0 13. TNX = 0 14. JPMD = 0