• Europe-domiciled ETFs attracted $35.0 billion of assets in December, with both equity and bond ETFs seeing inflows.

• Equity ETFs collected $25.1 billion in new assets, while fixed income exposures saw $9.0 billion of net inflows.

• The Vanguard UCITS ETF range captured net inflows of $2.8 billion in December, with the majority recording positive flows.

Monthly recap: Annual ETF flow record shattered

In the end, 2025 was a good year across most major markets and asset classes. While trade tensions caused short-term volatility and some lingering uncertainty, it wasn’t enough to dent investor sentiment during the full course of the year. Both global and US equities enjoyed strong gains for the year, while global bonds also provided positive returns. 

Against this backdrop, investors allocated assets into ETFs at a pace not seen in any prior year. Total Europe-domiciled ETF flows hit a record $371.7 billion in 2025 – nearly $94 billion higher than the previous record, set in 2024. Equity ETF flows accounted for $279.0 billion of the 2025 total while bond ETFs gathered $88.4 billion. 

Flows across Europe-domiciled ETFs in December further solidified the trends we saw throughout 2025. In the equity ETF space, core exposures added $14.0 billion in the final month of the year, making it 12 straight months of inflows in the category for a total of $182.4 billion. Developed-market and global equity ETFs also each had positive flows each month of 2025, tallying totals of $65.2 billion and $46.0 billion, respectively. US equity ETFs finished the year with $39.2 billion of net inflows, although the exposure weathered net outflows in five separate months. 

Among bond ETFs, investors showed a preference for euro area exposures in December and during the year overall. Across 12 months of net inflows, the category took in $46.6 billion of assets. Ultra-short maturity bond ETFs also welcomed net inflows in each month of 2025, recording the second-highest monthly inflows of the year in December ($3.4 billion). For the year, the ultra-short category collected $31.7 billion. Government and corporate bond ETFs ended the year with almost identical flow totals: $20.8 billion and $20.7 billion, respectively.

Multi-asset and commodity ETFs enjoyed net inflows in December while alternative ETFs endured net outflows. All three categories finished the full year in positive territory.

Total ETF market flows

Robust inflows continue through December

European ETF cumulative flows – cumulative 12 months by asset class ($ billion)

Source: ETFbook, as at 31 December 2025.

Equity ETFs

Core equity ETFs finish strong

Equity flows by category: Month to date ($ million)

Source: ETFbook, as at 31 December 2025. The ‘segment’ category includes equity exposures which target specific market capitalisation segments, such as small-cap, mid-cap and large-cap. The ‘market access’ category includes difficult-to-access markets such as emerging markets. The ‘basket’ category includes strategies that combine several stocks as the underlying exposure.

Core equity ETFs continued to attract strong net inflows, adding a further $14.0 billion in December. For the year, core equity ETFs collected $182.4 billion of net inflows. Smart beta equity ETFs saw $4.3 billion of net inflows last month while sector ETFs added $2.2 billion. Segment ETFs weathered modest net outflows of -$93 million.

Developed market equity ETF dominance persists

Equity flows by geographic exposure: Month to date ($ million)

Source: ETFbook, as at 31 December 2025.

Developed-market equity ETFs again topped the table, adding $7.9 billion of net inflows in December – the second-highest monthly tally of 2025. The category saw net inflows each month last year, for a total of $65.2 billion. Global equity ETFs added $3.7 billion in December, finishing 2025 with 12 months of inflows totalling $46.0 billion. Developed market ex-US ETFs endured net outflows of -$967 million in December, while Germany ETFs had outflows of -$415 million.

Fixed income ETFs

Inflows again for ultra-short maturity bond ETFs

Fixed income flows by category: Month to date ($ million)

Source: ETFbook, as at 31 December 2025.

Ultra-short maturity bond ETFs tallied $3.4 billion of net inflows in December, while government and aggregate bond ETFs collected $1.8 billion apiece. The ultra-short category had net inflows each month of 2025, for a total of $31.7 billion. Green bond ETFs weathered relatively modest net outflows of -$46 million last month.

Euro area bond ETFs edge global in December

Fixed income flows by geographic exposure: Month to date ($ million)

Source: ETFbook, as at 31 December 2025.

Euro area bond ETFs again had the highest net inflows among fixed income products, collecting $3.1 billion of assets in December, just outpacing global bond ETFs, which picked up $2.9 billion last month. That made it 12 months of positive flows for euro area bond ETFs, for a total of $46.6 billion. US bond ETFs also welcomed net inflows last month, adding $2.2 billion. On the other side of the ledger, Germany and Japan bond ETFs weathered net outflows of -$442 million and -$126 million, respectively.

Vanguard UCITS ETFs

Vanguard range sees net inflows of $2.8 billion in December

Vanguard UCITS ETF net flows: Month to date ($ million)

Source: ETFbook, as at 31 December 2025.

The Vanguard UCITS ETF range captured net inflows of $2.8 billion in December, with the majority recording positive flows. Inflows were split between Vanguard’s equity UCITS ETF range ($2.5 billion) and fixed income UCITS ETF range ($220 million), while the multi-asset ETF range ($40 million) and euro cash ETF ($31 million) also saw net inflows.

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