Slippage
Slippage: Slippage is the difference between the price you expect when placing an order and the price at which it is actually filled. It can work against you (negative slippage) or in your favour (positive slippage).
Why slippage happens
Prices can move between the moment an order is sent and the moment it is executed. Slippage is more likely when the market moves fast or liquidity is thin — around major news, at the weekly open, during holidays — and when prices gap from one level to another.
Which orders are affected
Market orders and stop orders, including stop losses, are exposed to slippage because they are executed at the next available price once triggered. Limit orders are filled at the set price or better, so they avoid negative slippage but may not be filled at all.
How traders manage it
Common approaches include avoiding thin trading periods, using limit or stop-limit orders where the platform offers them, and checking the broker’s order execution policy.
Example
A stop loss at 1.0825 on a long EUR/USD position is triggered during a news release and fills at 1.0818 — 7 pips of negative slippage.
Learn more
- Forex Order Types: Market, Limit, Stop and More Explained
A guide to forex order types — market, buy/sell limit, buy/sell stop, stop-limit, stop loss, take profit, trailing stop and OCO — with examples.
- What Is a Spread in Forex? How Spreads Work and What They Cost
The forex spread is the gap between the bid and ask price. Learn how to calculate spread cost, fixed vs variable spreads and why spreads widen.
Related terms
- Market order
A market order is an order to buy or sell straight away at the best available price. Buy orders fill at the ask and sell orders at the bid.
- Stop order
A stop order is an order to buy once the price rises to a set level (buy stop) or to sell once it falls to a set level (sell stop). When triggered, it typically becomes a market order.
- Liquidity
Liquidity is how easily a currency pair can be bought or sold without moving its price much. Highly liquid pairs tend to have tighter spreads and less slippage.