The global exchange-traded funds industry (including ETPs) grew by a record $1.287 trillion (36.3%) in 2017, more than double the previous record of $554.0 billion set in 2016, according to ETF industry consultants ETFGI.

The global ETF industry saw record net inflows of $654.0bn during 2017.

The increase of 36.3%, from $3.548tn at the end of 2016, also represents the greatest growth in assets since 2009 when markets recovered following the 2008 financial crisis.

Total assets globally amounted to $4.835tn at the end of December.

Just over half (50.8%) of the increase in global ETF assets during 2017 can be attributed to organic growth with record net inflows of $654.0bn, 67.4% more than $390.7bn net inflows for 2016, and over double the average for net inflows over the previous five years.

Over a third (34.9%) of these net inflows for 2017 can be attributed to the top 20 ETFs by net new assets, which collectively gathered $228.5bn.

The iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV US) on its own accounted for net inflows of $30.2bn. ETFGI highlights the flows into IVV as indicative of a broader trend to invest in lower cost, ‘core’ ETFs; IVV charges total fees of just 0.04%.

December 2017 also marked the forty-seventh consecutive month of positive net inflows into the global ETF industry, with $53.8bn gathered during the month. Equity ETFs were highly in demand during December, gathering net inflows of $52.1bn, bringing net inflows for 2017 to $475.2bn. Fixed Income ETFs experienced relatively modest net inflows of $1.9bn in December, growing net inflows for 2017 to $138.4bn.