The European ETFs industry is experiencing sustained growth, according to data released on Monday 18 September 2023 by ETFGI, an independent research and consultancy firm focused on global exchange-traded fund trends. As of the end of August 2023, the industry registered net inflows of $8.95bn for the month, bringing the year-to-date net inflows to a staggering $96.05bn. This makes it the second-highest on record, following the year-to-date net inflows of $138.94bn in 2021.

In total, assets have increased by 17.8% year-to-date in 2023, rising from $1.33trn at the end of 2022 to $1.57trn. With 2,073 products listed on 29 exchanges across 24 countries, the European ETF landscape is more diverse and robust than ever.

Asset classes

The growth isn’t uniform across all asset classes; rather, different types of ETFs have attracted varying levels of interest from investors. According to ETFGI, equity ETFs saw net inflows of $5.25bn in August, resulting in year-to-date net inflows of $48.83bn--higher than the $44.33bn recorded for the same period in 2022.

Fixed income ETFs also performed well, reporting net inflows of $2.97bn in August, which brought the year-to-date total to $44.81bn, significantly surpassing the $20.86bn in net inflows recorded year-to-date in 2022.

In contrast, commodities ETFs and exchange-traded products (ETPs) reported net outflows of $169m during August, leading to year-to-date net outflows amounting to $2.82bn. However, this is lower than the $519m in net outflows reported for the same period in 2022.

Meanwhile, active ETFs are gaining in popularity, attracting net inflows of $1.04bn in August and accumulating year-to-date net inflows of $5.25bn, substantially higher than the $872m recorded in 2022.