A three-year report into currency dealing shows rapid growth in trading, with the majority of business happening in London.
Trade has jumped by 20% in the three years since the last survey was conducted by the Bank for International Settlements BIS, which is sometimes called the "central bankers bank".
But London outpaced the average, with turnover up by 25% over the period.
Some $4 trillion �2.6tn changes hands around the world every day.
The single-largest centre of foreign exchange dealing remains London, with 37% of global turnover taking place in the city.
The surveys findings indicate that fears London may lose its place as a key financial centre are misplaced at present.
The US, the second most important currency centre, does about half the amount of trading taking place in London.
The dollar is still the worlds most-traded currency, accounting for 85% of all transactions, although that is down from the 90% it reached in 2001.
Post-crisis snapshotGrowth in dealing has been driven by a combination of hedge funds, insurance firms, central banks and other non-bank financial institutions.
The BIS survey, in which 53 central banks and monetary authorities participated, presents the first snapshot of the currency markets since the 2008 financial crisis.
It includes a period that saw the end of the boom in the carry trade, where money is borrowed in currencies which have low interest rates and is used to invest in investments that bring higher rates of return.
The share of the low-yielding Japanese yen and the higher-yielding Australian dollar therefore rose as a percentage of all transactions.
Because two currencies are involved in each transaction, the sum of the percentage shares of individual currencies totals 200%, instead of 100%.
Euro/dollar remained by far the most dominant currency pair, with a 28% share.
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