5 International ETFs Up at Least 20% in 2026 & Beating the S&P 500
Wall Street has been in solid shape so far this year. State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY has gained 12.1% while the tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 ETF Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1 QQQ has jumped about 20% in the first nine months of 2026 (as of Sept. 28, 2026).
However, international markets have fared well, too. All-world ETF including the United States iShares MSCI ACWI ETF ACWI is also up about 12% while iShares MSCI ACWI ex US ETF ACWX has also advanced about 12%.
Some specific corners of international markets have performed particularly well. iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF EEM has surged about 20%. The spotlight has been on Asia and the AI trade, with tech-heavy iShares Asia 50 ETF AIA surging about 40% so far this year.
Meanwhile, Japan has remained relatively steady, with iShares MSCI Japan ETF EWJ returning about 19.1%. But the broader eurozone fund, iShares MSCI Eurozone ETF EZU, has inched up only 5.4%, underperforming several other regions. Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF VGK has delivered an even lower return of 4.5%.
What Drove Specific International ETFs
The AI theme has been one of the winning areas of the year. This could be one of the key reasons behind Europe’s underperformance. European indexes typically have exposure to a broad mix of sectors, including technology, healthcare, energy, financials and consumer goods.
In contrast, the Nasdaq-100 is heavily tilted toward technology, while the S&P 500 is also increasingly concentrated in the tech sector, particularly the Magnificent Seven stocks that have been driving the current AI boom.
Cheaper Valuation
Most international markets and ETFs remain relatively inexpensive compared with their U.S. counterparts. The P/E ratio (trailing twelve months) of EZU stands at 17.89X (per Yahoo Finance), while its U.S. counterpart — Vanguard S&P 500 ETF VOO — trades at a P/E of 24.75X.
Meanwhile, AIA trades at a P/E (ttm) of 14.54X and EEM trades at a P/E (ttm) of 14.30X. iShares China Large-Cap ETF FXI trades at a P/E (ttm) of 9.05X.
Top-Performing International ETFs in Focus
Against this backdrop, below we highlight a few winning international ETFs of 2026.
iShares Asia 50 ETF (AIA) – Up 41%
The underlying S&P Asia 50 Index is a total float-adjusted, market-capitalization-weighted index designed to measure the performance of 50 leading companies listed in four Asian countries or regions: Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan. AIA is heavily weighted toward Taiwan Semiconductor and Samsung, with the duo accounting for about 35% of the fund. AIA charges 50 bps in fees.