Worldwide shares have been thriving in 2025, however shopping for particular person shares from different international locations isn’t all the time straightforward. One workaround is a global inventory ETF — an exchange-traded fund that does the work of researching and investing in overseas shares for you.

However what sort of worldwide ETF could also be finest for you? They arrive in a couple of completely different varieties, together with world “ex-U.S.” ETFs, continent-specific or regional ETFs, and single-country ETFs. Beneath, we’re looking on the variations between these classes, and among the finest performers from every.

Ex-U.S. ETFs are the broadest class of worldwide ETFs — they’re funds that spend money on world shares, however exclude American shares, therefore “ex-U.S.” Beneath are the seven best-performing ex-U.S. ETFs within the final yr.

Supply: Finviz. Knowledge is present as of June 2, 2025, and is meant for informational functions solely.

Regional ETFs spend money on shares from a selected grouping of nations, similar to Latin America. Many spend money on shares from a selected continent, similar to Africa, Asia or Europe. Beneath are the seven best-performing regional ETFs when it comes to one-year returns.

Supply: Finviz. Knowledge is present as of June 2, 2025, and is meant for informational functions solely.

Then there are single-country ETFs, which, as their identify implies, completely spend money on shares from a selected non-U.S. nation. Beneath are the seven single-country ETFs with the very best one-year returns.

Supply: Finviz. Knowledge is present as of June 2, 2025, and is meant for informational functions solely, not for buying and selling functions.