Number of ETFs in the U.S. 2003-2023

The number of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States has steadily increased; Starting with 123 ETFs in 2003, this amount has grown to a total of 3,243 ETFs as of 2023. The value of assets under management (AUM) allocated to ETFs in the United States has experienced a sharp increase. As of 2023, the total AUM of ETFs amounted to approximately eight trillion U.S. dollars, increasing from 151 billion U.S. dollars in 2003. 

What is an ETF?

An ETF is a pooled financial product that can be bought and sold on the stock market by retail and institutional investors. ETFs are structured to track the performance of underlying securities. This may range from tracking a singular underlying commodity to a diverse assortment of securities. Some of the largest ETF providers by market share in the United States as of 2023 included BlackRock and Vanguard, each accounting for approximately one-third or more of the U.S. market.

Types of ETFs

Broad-based domestic equity, global equity, and bond ETFs have the highest issuance rates of ETFs in the United States. A broad-based index sets a benchmark to track the performance of a group of underlying securities. A popular example includes the evaluated performance difference between the S&P 500 ESG and S&P 500 indexes.