What is Implied Volatility? The term implied volatility refers to a metric that captures the market's view of the likelihood of changes in a given security's price. Investors can use implied volatility to project future moves and supply and demand, and often employ it to price options contracts. Implied volatility isn't the same as historical volatility (also known as realized volatility or statistical volatility), which measures past market changes and their actual results. Interested in learning more? Related articles What is Implied Volatility Related to Skew? What is Intrinsic Value? What is Forward Implied Volatility? What does "In The Money" mean? What is Implied Skew?