The SEBI F&O numbers, read calmly
Nine in ten individual traders lose. What that means for the crowd, and what it does not mean for your book.
SEBI has now published several studies on individual traders in the equity derivatives segment, and the direction has not changed. In the FY25 study, 91% of individual traders were net losers, and aggregate net losses came to roughly ₹1.06 lakh crore — up about 41% from ₹74,812 crore in FY24.
Those are population numbers. They describe a crowd of millions, not a prediction about your next trade.
The scale of it
The FY25 study covered the top thirteen brokers in the segment, with a combined client base of around 96 lakh unique traders. Average net loss per person was above ₹1.1 lakh. Losses peaked in the third quarter of FY25 and eased somewhat in the fourth, after regulatory measures took effect.
₹74,812 crore in FY24, ₹1,05,603 crore in FY25, as reported from the SEBI study.
Costs are the quiet character
Earlier SEBI work on the segment found that even the minority who ended net positive spent a meaningful share of those profits on transaction costs, and that loss-makers spent more on top of their losses.
That is the part a journal can genuinely help with, because your own cost ratio is computable from your own contract notes.
Source: SEBI FY25 study on individual traders in equity derivatives (Indian Express summary)
What not to do with these numbers
Do not read them as a promise that you are in the 9%, and do not read them as a reason to give up on record-keeping. Also, be wary of anybody using this statistic to sell you something — including software.
The honest use is narrow: a reminder that costs and discipline decide more outcomes than opinions do.
Key takeaways
- The loss rate is a population statistic, not a personal forecast.
- Score your own financial year on net, after all charges.
- Treat anyone monetising this statistic with suspicion.
Where these numbers come from
- SEBI FY25 study on individual traders in equity derivatives (Indian Express summary)
- BusinessLine — retail F&O losses widen 41% in FY25
- SEBI — reports and statistics
Not advice, not a call. NiyataBook is a personal trading journal, not a SEBI-registered investment adviser or research analyst. Everything above looks backwards at trades that already closed. What happened in a book does not promise what happens next, and F&O can take a year’s savings in a week.