Volume in U.S. equities markets fell 18.5 percent last year, in consolidated statistics recorded by the Nasdaq OMX Group.
All told, 1.6 trillion shares changed hands in 2012, compared to just under 2.0 trillion in 2011.
That is the lowest level since 2007, when 1.5 trillion shares were traded.
Average daily volume on national exchanges and over-the-counter markets fell 21.6 percent, according to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association.
Volume dropped from 10.2 billion shares a day in 2011, to 8.0 billion shares a day in 2012. Those stats cover the 10 national exchanges operated by NYSE Euronext, Nasdaq OMX, BATS Global Markets and Direct Edge, as well as the three tiers of over-the-counter trading conducted by OTC Markets Group.
When volume is restricted to the 10 national exchanges, the daily average fell 18.6 percent.
Each day, 4.6 billion shares were traded in 2012, compared to 5.6 billion in 2011. That is a level not seen since 2007, when 4.8 billion shares were traded a day.
The peak was 2009, when 6.9 billion shares were traded a day, according to SIFMA statistics. That was the first full year of the credit crisis that erupted in September 2008.
In 2003, average daily volume on exchanges was 3.1 billion. At that time, BATS and Direct Edge did not operate national exchanges.
