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Options Expiration Statistics

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Written By
Dan Buckley
Contributor Image
Written By
Dan Buckley
Dan Buckley is an US-based trader, consultant, and part-time writer with a background in macroeconomics and mathematical finance. He trades and writes about a variety of asset classes, including equities, fixed income, commodities, currencies, and interest rates. As a writer, his goal is to explain trading and finance concepts in levels of detail that could appeal to a range of audiences, from novice traders to those with more experienced backgrounds.
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Updated
Nov 11, 2024

Options expiration statistics help understand how options contracts behave as they approach their expiration dates.

In turn, this can influence trading strategies and risk management.

Understanding these patterns can be useful for traders using various types of options trading strategies.

 

Key Takeaways – Options Expiration Statistics

  • 10% of option contracts are exercised early. 
  • 50–60% of option contracts are closed out before expiration. 
  • 30–40% of option contracts expire worthless, meaning they’re out-of-the-money with no intrinsic value.

 

Key Statistics on Options Expiration

10% of Options Are Exercised

According to the CBOE, only about 10% of options contracts are exercised, meaning the option holder buys (in the case of a call) or sells (in the case of a put) the underlying asset at the agreed strike price.

For traders, this statistic suggests that the likelihood of assignment is relatively low, though it’s based on how close the strike price is to the underlying asset’s price.

For deep in-the-money (ITM) options, exercise is common.

50–60% of Options Are Closed Before Expiration

The majority of options, around 50–60%, are closed out before they reach expiration.

This means that most options traders opt to sell or buy back their contracts before expiration, either to lock in profits or cut their losses.

Moreover, many traders close options positions early rather than risking the potential volatility that often occurs as expiration approaches when most of the theta value is gone.

30–40% of Options Expire Worthless

Approximately 30–40% of options contracts expire worthless, meaning they’re out-of-the-money (OTM) at expiration and have no intrinsic value.

For the seller, an option expiring worthless is a favorable outcome since they retain the premium collected without any further obligations.

This data point is meaningful for strategies involving selling options, where the goal is often to collect premiums on puts or calls that expire OTM.

Knowing that about a third of options will expire worthless shows a reasonable chance of keeping the premium without assignment.