ETFGI reports Global ETFs Industry Sets Q1 Record as YTD net Inflows Surge 35% Past 2025 High.

During March, the global ETFs industry gathered net inflows of US$174.42 billion, bringing year-to-date net inflows to a record US$626.42 billion, according to ETFGI’s March 2026 Global ETFs industry landscape insights report, the monthly report which is part of an annual paid-for research subscription service. ETFGI, is a 14 year old leading independent research and consultancy firm renowned for its expertise in subscription research, consulting services, 6 annual ETFGI Global ETFs Insights Summits, and ETF TV on global ETF industry trends. (All dollar values in USD unless otherwise noted)

Highlights

• Global ETF assets totalled $20.08 trillion at the end of Q1, below the record $21.24 trillion reached in February 2026.
• Net inflows reached $174.42 billion in March.
• Q1 net inflows of $626.42 billion are the highest on record, surpassing the prior peak of 463.51 billion in 2025 and $397.51 billion in 2024.
• March marked the 82nd consecutive month of net inflows into the global ETF industry.

During March the S&P 500 declined 4.98% in March and is down 4.33% year‑to‑date in 2026. Developed markets excluding the United States fell 10.99% in March but remained up 0.18% for the year. Within developed markets, Korea (‑24.15%) and Luxembourg (‑21.47%) recorded the largest declines during the month.  Emerging markets declined 10.13% in March and were down 2.84% year‑to‑date. Egypt (‑19.42%) and South Africa (‑17.24%) experienced the steepest losses among emerging markets in March. According to Deborah Fuhr, Managing Partner, Founder, and Owner, ETFGI

Growth in assets in the Global ETFs industry as of the end of Q1

Source: ETFGI data sourced from ETF/ETP sponsors, exchanges, regulatory filings, Thomson Reuters/Lipper, Bloomberg, publicly available sources and data generated in-house. Note: “ETFs” are typically open-end index funds that provide daily portfolio transparency, are listed and traded on exchanges like stocks on a secondary basis as well as utilising a unique creation and redemption process for primary transactions. “ETPs” refers to other products that have similarities to ETFs in the way they trade and settle but they do not use a mutual fund structure. The use of other structures including grantor trusts, partnerships, notes and depositary receipts by ETPs can create different tax and regulatory implications for investors when compared to ETFs which are funds.

The Global ETFs industry had 16,284 products, with 31,823 listings, assets of $20.08 Tn, from 994 providers on 85 exchanges in 65 countries at the end of Q1.

The global ETF industry remains highly concentrated, with iShares, Vanguard, and State Street SPDR ETFs controlling 58.3% of total assets. iShares leads with $5.43 trillion (27.1%), followed by Vanguard at $4.29 trillion (21.4%) and State Street SPDR ETFs at $1.98 trillion (9.9%). The other 991 providers each represent less than 5% of global ETF AUM.

Highlights of Net flows

• During March, ETFs attracted net inflows of $174.42 billion globally.
• Equity ETFs gathered $54.12 billion in net inflows during March, bringing year‑to‑date inflows to $225.64 billion, exceeding the $211.63 billion in net inflows equity ETFs had attracted by March 2025.
• Fixed income ETFs reported $35.44 billion in net inflows in March, lifting YTD inflows to $119.17 billion, well above the $81.97 billion recorded over the same period in 2025.
• Commodities ETFs experienced net outflows of $9.83 billion during March; however, YTD net inflows totaled $16.62 billion, below the $21.91 billion reported by March 2025.
• Active ETFs attracted $78.37 billion in net inflows during March, bringing YTD inflows to $245.95 billion, significantly higher than the $144.51 billion gathered by March 2025.

Substantial inflows can be attributed to the top 20 ETF’s by net new assets, which collectively gathered $94.06 Bn in March, the State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF (SPYM US) gathered $16.83 Bn alone.

Source: ETFGI