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After the strong inflows into ETFs over the course of October (+€39.6 bn), it is clear that the European ETF industry is on the way to reach a new record for annual inflows at the end of the year 2025. In fact, the inflows over the course of October drove the overall inflows in ETFs in Europe up to €282.2 bn for the year 2025 so far.

This means the inflows into ETFs in Europe have already exceeded the record inflows of the year 2024 (€256.4 bn). If European ETFs can maintain their current level of inflows, the overall inflows for the year 2025 will reach a new all-time high, with estimated net inflows between €320.0 bn and €340.0 bn.

The inflows in the European ETF industry for October were once again driven by equity ETFs (+€24.3 bn), followed by bond ETFs (+€13.6 bn), money market ETFs (+€1.5 bn), mixed-assets ETFs (+€0.6 bn), and alternatives ETFs (+€0.02 bn). On the other side of the table, commodities ETFs (-€0.5 bn) were the only asset type with outflows for the month.

A closer look at the estimated net inflows by Lipper Global Classification shows that 114 of the 183 Lipper Global classifications covered in this review enjoyed estimated inflows October 2025, while the remaining 69 classification showed no flows or faced estimated net outflows.

The 10 Lipper global classifications with the highest estimated net inflows for October 2025 accounted for €26.7 bn. In line with the overall sales trend for October, equity peer groups (+€18.0 bn) dominated the flows by asset type on the table of the 10 Lipper global classifications with the highest estimated net inflows.

Given the overall fund flow trend in the European ETF industry, it was not surprising that Equity U.S. (+€6.3 bn) was the best-selling Lipper global classification for October. It was followed by Bond Global Corporates EUR (+€4.8 bn) and Equity Global (+€4.2 bn).

Speaking about corporate bonds, it looks like European investors have split opinions on this asset class, since Bond Global Corporates EUR (+€4.8 bn), Bond EUR Corporates Short Term (+€0.5 bn), and Bond Global Corporates USD (+€0.2 bn) enjoyed inflows, while Bond USD Corporates (-€0.004 bn), Bond EUR Corporates (-€0.04 bn), Bond Global Corporates GBP (-€0.04 bn), and Bond GBP Corporates (-€0.5 bn) faced outflows.

The fund flow trend toward European equities seems to be further intact, since Equity Europe (+€2.6 bn) was the fourth best-selling Lipper classification for October 2025. That said, by looking on these numbers one needs to bear in mind that Lipper has merged the classification Equity Eurozone into Equity Europe, which may lead to higher fund flow numbers.

Graph 1: Estimated Net Sales in Corporate Bond Classifications, October 1, 2025 – October 31, 2025 (Euro Billions)
 

Source: LSEG Lipper
 

Talking about European equities, it might be a surprise to see that Equity German Small & Mid Cap (-€0.7 bn) was the Lipper Classification with the highest outflows. Furthermore, it looks like European investors prefer European blue chips over small & mid-caps since Equity Europe Small & Mid Cap (-€0.07 bn) and Equity UK Small & Mid-Caps (-€0.06 bn) faced outflows. Conversely, Equity Italy Small & Mid-Caps (+€0.01 bn) and Equity Switzerland Small & Mid-Caps (+€0.04 bn) enjoyed slight inflows. From an international point of view, Equity Global Small & Mid-Cap (+€0.2 bn) was the best-selling small & mid-cap classification in the European ETF industry, followed by Equity Japan Small & Mid-Cap (+€0.07 bn), and Equity U.S. Small & Mid-Cap (+€0.06 bn). The inflows into U.S. small & mid-caps might be a surprise, as market observers often call U.S. small & mid-caps as the main victims of new tariff regimes introduced around the globe.

Graph 2: Estimated Net Sales in Equity Small & Mid Cap Classifications, October 1, 2025 – October 31, 2025 (Euro Billions)
 

Source: LSEG Lipper
 

Even as money market is not a major asset type in the European ETF industry, both major money market classifications–Money Market EUR (+€1.1 bn), and Money Market USD (+€0.3 bn) enjoyed estimated net inflows over the course of the month. This means the trend of inflows into money market ETFs continued during October.

In addition, it looks like European investors have taken profits after the strong price increase of gold, as Commodity Precious Metals faced outflows of €0.09 bn. These outflows made Commodity Precious Metals the classification with the twelfth highest estimated outflows.

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