Where your forex broker locates its trading servers is one of the most overlooked factors in trading — yet it directly impacts your execution speed, slippage, and ultimately your bottom line. At BrokersDB, we've built the largest database of verified broker server infrastructure in the world. In this exclusive report, we analyze real data from 15,834 server endpoints across 2,949 brokers to reveal where the industry actually hosts its trading infrastructure.
The Numbers: A Global Infrastructure Snapshot
Before diving into the details, let's look at the headlines from our analysis of the global MT5 broker ecosystem:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Total Brokers Analyzed | 2,949 |
| Total MT5 Trading Servers | 4,156 |
| Total Unique Server Endpoints (IPs) | 15,834 |
| Countries with Broker Servers | 69 |
| Cities with Broker Servers | 344 |
| Unique Internet Service Providers | 563 |
| Unique Hosting Organizations | 821 |
| Average Servers per Broker | 1.4 |
| Maximum Servers (Single Broker) | 56 (Exness) |
| Average Unique IPs per Broker | 5.4 |
These numbers reveal a massive, globally distributed infrastructure. But the distribution is far from even — certain countries, cities, and cloud providers dominate the landscape.
Where Are Forex Brokers Really Hosted?
The Dominance of the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom is the undisputed capital of forex broker infrastructure. With 4,180 server endpoints — more than the next three countries combined — the UK hosts over 26% of all broker server endpoints globally. A staggering 1,826 brokers (62% of all brokers) have at least one server in the UK.
Why the UK? London is home to the world's largest forex trading hub, handling approximately 38% of global FX turnover. The city's LD4 data center (Equinix's facility in Slough, just west of London) is considered the epicenter of global forex trading — many major liquidity providers and ECN networks operate from this exact facility.
Top 10 Countries by Server Endpoints
| Rank | Country | Endpoints | Share | Unique Brokers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Kingdom | 4,180 | 26.4% | 1,826 |
| 2 | United States | 1,501 | 9.5% | 482 |
| 3 | Hong Kong | 1,283 | 8.1% | 510 |
| 4 | Singapore | 1,245 | 7.9% | 528 |
| 5 | Germany | 953 | 6.0% | 495 |
| 6 | The Netherlands | 920 | 5.8% | 722 |
| 7 | China | 893 | 5.6% | 248 |
| 8 | Japan | 686 | 4.3% | 293 |
| 9 | Canada | 373 | 2.4% | 98 |
| 10 | France | 367 | 2.3% | 250 |
Notice that The Netherlands ranks 6th by endpoints but hosts servers for 722 unique brokers — the second highest count after the UK. This is largely due to Amsterdam's AM5 data center (Equinix), another major forex infrastructure hub.
Top Cities: The World's Forex Server Capitals
Zooming in to city level reveals even more concentration. London alone (including the City of London, Slough, Poplar, and nearby areas) accounts for an enormous share of global broker infrastructure:
| Rank | City | Endpoints | Unique Brokers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | London, UK | 1,916 | 881 |
| 2 | Singapore | 1,245 | 528 |
| 3 | Hong Kong | 1,084 | 427 |
| 4 | Amsterdam, NL | 816 | 640 |
| 5 | Slough, UK (LD4) | 765 | 405 |
| 6 | City of London, UK | 699 | 485 |
| 7 | Frankfurt, DE | 551 | 284 |
| 8 | Tokyo, JP | 523 | 244 |
| 9 | Ashburn, US (VA) | 387 | 141 |
| 10 | Dubai, UAE | 321 | 177 |
London, Slough, City of London, Poplar, Erith, and Maidenhead — all in the greater London area — collectively account for 3,764 endpoints, or nearly 24% of all broker server infrastructure worldwide. This makes the London metro area the single most important location in global forex infrastructure.
Regional Distribution: Where the Servers Are
Looking at the continental distribution paints a clear picture of how forex infrastructure is concentrated:
| Region | Endpoints | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Europe | 7,463 | 47.1% |
| Asia Pacific | 5,346 | 33.8% |
| North America | 1,884 | 11.9% |
| Middle East | 561 | 3.5% |
| South America | 309 | 2.0% |
| Africa | 257 | 1.6% |
Europe and Asia Pacific together account for over 80% of all broker server endpoints. This makes sense — Europe (London) is the traditional center of forex trading, while Asia Pacific (Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo) represents the fastest-growing region for retail forex.
Cloud Provider Market Share: Who Hosts the Trading
Perhaps the most revealing data is which cloud providers and hosting companies the industry relies on. Our analysis shows a clear hierarchy:
By Endpoints (Total Server Instances)
| Rank | Provider | Endpoints | Market Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amazon/AWS | 4,025 | 25.4% |
| 2 | Alibaba Cloud | 1,715 | 10.8% |
| 3 | Microsoft Azure | 1,041 | 6.6% |
| 4 | OVH | 716 | 4.5% |
| 5 | Beeks Financial Cloud | 573 | 3.6% |
| 6 | Vultr | 474 | 3.0% |
| 7 | Hetzner | 403 | 2.5% |
| 8 | Leaseweb | 361 | 2.3% |
| 9 | Google Cloud | 275 | 1.7% |
| 10 | Cloudflare | 254 | 1.6% |
By Unique Brokers Hosted
| Rank | Provider | Brokers | Share of All Brokers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amazon/AWS | 693 | 23.5% |
| 2 | Alibaba Cloud | 376 | 12.8% |
| 3 | OVH | 310 | 10.5% |
| 4 | Beeks Financial Cloud | 290 | 9.8% |
| 5 | Microsoft Azure | 256 | 8.7% |
| 6 | Hetzner | 196 | 6.6% |
| 7 | Vultr | 186 | 6.3% |
| 8 | Leaseweb | 146 | 5.0% |
| 9 | Google Cloud | 75 | 2.5% |
| 10 | Equinix | 74 | 2.5% |
Amazon AWS dominates with nearly a quarter of all broker server infrastructure, primarily through its London (eu-west-2), Singapore (ap-southeast-1), and Hong Kong (ap-east-1) regions. Alibaba Cloud takes a strong second place, driven by the large number of Chinese and Asian brokers.
Beeks Financial Cloud, a UK-based provider specializing in financial infrastructure, hosts nearly 10% of all brokers. Unlike generic cloud providers, Beeks specializes in low-latency financial hosting and co-location specifically for forex brokers and trading firms.
Industry-Specific Hosting: MetaQuotes & Fintech Providers
Beyond generic cloud providers, several industry-specific companies play a crucial role in forex broker infrastructure:
- MetaQuotes — The creators of MetaTrader operate their own hosting infrastructure with 597 endpoints. MetaQuotes offers hosting directly as part of their platform licensing.
- Hydra Communications — A major provider with 582 endpoints, specializing in hosting for financial firms.
- Liquidity Connect LLC — With 268 endpoints, Liquidity Connect specializes in connecting brokers to liquidity providers with ultra-low latency.
- S.S NETSHOP INTERNET SERVICES — Hosting 249 endpoints, this Cyprus-based provider caters specifically to the forex industry.
- PrimeXM Services — A technology and liquidity bridge provider with its own hosting infrastructure, operating 112 endpoints.
- Equinix — The world's largest data center company with 167 endpoints, including the critical LD4 facility in London.
The Biggest Broker Infrastructures
Not all brokers have the same infrastructure. The largest brokers maintain massive server networks spanning multiple continents, while smaller brokers may operate from a single server. Here are the largest broker infrastructures we've observed:
| Rank | Broker | Servers | Unique IPs | Countries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Exness | 56 | 354 | 18 |
| 2 | Vantage | 19 | 70 | 8 |
| 3 | XM | 15 | 57 | 9 |
| 4 | HF Markets | 11 | 36 | 8 |
| 5 | FBS Markets | ~8 | 75 | 16 |
| 6 | FTMO | 7 | 44 | 3 |
| 7 | Startrader | 7 | 32 | 7 |
| 8 | VT Markets | 7 | 28 | 8 |
| 9 | OANDA | 5 | 17 | 4 |
| 10 | IC Markets | 4 | 34 | 8 |
Exness stands out as the undisputed infrastructure leader with 354 unique IPs distributed across 18 countries — more than double any other broker. This massive infrastructure ensures that Exness traders get fast execution regardless of their geographic location.
An interesting insight: 73.6% of brokers (2,170 out of 2,949) operate with only 1 trading server. Only 779 brokers have multiple trading servers. This means most brokers have limited geographic redundancy.
Why Server Location Matters for Traders
Server location directly impacts your trading in several critical ways:
1. Execution Latency
The physical distance between your trading terminal (or VPS) and the broker's server determines network latency. Light travels through fiber optic cables at roughly 200km/ms. A trader in Tokyo connecting to a broker server in London experiences approximately 120-150ms of network latency — enough to miss fast-moving price opportunities. The same trader connecting to a server in Tokyo would have under 5ms latency.
2. Slippage
Slippage occurs when the price changes between the time you send an order and when it's executed. Higher latency means more time for the price to move, leading to more slippage. For scalpers and algorithmic traders executing hundreds or thousands of trades, even 1-2 points of average slippage adds up to significant costs.
3. Strategy Viability
Some trading strategies are only profitable with very low latency. Latency arbitrage, news trading, and high-frequency scalping strategies require sub-10ms execution times. If your broker's server is far from your execution point, these strategies become impossible.
If you're an algorithmic trader or scalper, don't just look at the broker's headquarters location. Their trading servers may be in a completely different country. Use BrokersDB to check the actual server locations before choosing a broker.
How to Optimize Your Connection to Your Broker
- Step 1: Check your broker's server location — Use BrokersDB to find the exact server locations for your broker.
- Step 2: Use a VPS near the broker's server — Services like Beeks, ForexVPS.net, and AWS offer VPS hosting in major financial data centers.
- Step 3: Test your latency — In MetaTrader 5, check the connection speed displayed in the bottom-right corner. Under 50ms is good, under 10ms is excellent.
- Step 4: Consider co-location — For serious algo traders, co-locating your server in the same data center as your broker eliminates network latency almost entirely.
- Step 5: Choose a broker with servers near your target market — If you trade Asian sessions, choose a broker with servers in Singapore, Hong Kong, or Tokyo.
Key Takeaways
- London is the center of forex broker infrastructure, hosting 26.4% of all server endpoints and servers for 62% of all brokers
- Amazon AWS is the dominant cloud provider with 25.4% market share, followed by Alibaba Cloud at 10.8%
- Europe and Asia Pacific together account for over 80% of all broker server infrastructure
- Most brokers (73.6%) operate with only 1 trading server — limited geographic redundancy
- Exness has the largest infrastructure with 354 unique IPs across 18 countries
- Industry-specific providers like Beeks Financial Cloud, Hydra Communications, and MetaQuotes play a crucial role alongside generic cloud providers
- Server location directly impacts your execution speed, slippage, and strategy viability
BrokersDB is the only platform that provides detailed server infrastructure data for 2,949+ brokers, including server locations, hosting providers, IP addresses, and network details. Use our broker comparison tool to find brokers with servers closest to your location for the best execution speed.
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