ICMA Publishes Its Semi-Annual Report that Provides Detailed Data on EU and UK Sovereign Bond Market Trading Activity

Why It Matters

The surge in sovereign trading volume and the shift to electronic platforms signal deeper liquidity and faster price discovery, reshaping how banks, asset managers, and dealers operate across Europe. The data also highlights the outsized role of US Treasury bonds in European markets, influencing risk‑management and allocation decisions.

Key Takeaways

• 2025 sovereign volumes hit €70.7tn (~$77tn)
• Electronic venues captured 50% of volume, 60% of trades
• US Treasuries represent 35% of European secondary volume
• Average trade size rose, indicating larger block transactions
• Trade count grew 17% year‑over‑year, boosting market depth

Pulse Analysis

ICMA’s semi‑annual report provides the most granular view yet of Europe’s sovereign bond market, revealing a 39% year‑over‑year increase in notional volume for H2 2025. This growth reflects heightened investor appetite for sovereign debt amid a low‑rate environment and geopolitical uncertainty. By aggregating data from January 2022 to early 2026, the report offers a rare longitudinal perspective that helps market participants benchmark liquidity trends, assess pricing efficiency, and calibrate risk models with a richer historical context.

A standout finding is the accelerating electronification of trade execution. In 2025, half of the notional value and 60% of transaction counts flowed through electronic venues, up from modest levels in 2022. This shift to digital platforms reduces settlement times, improves transparency, and lowers operational costs, benefiting both buy‑side and sell‑side firms. Moreover, the rise in average trade size suggests that larger institutional players are increasingly comfortable transacting in electronic order books, further deepening market depth and resilience.

The report also underscores the dominance of US Treasury securities, which accounted for 35% of total European sovereign trading volume. This outsized presence influences portfolio construction, hedging strategies, and regulatory capital calculations for European banks and asset managers. As ICMA commits to semi‑annual updates, stakeholders can expect even finer granularity and broader coverage, enabling more precise analysis of evolving market structures and informing policy discussions around market integration and digital transformation.