10 Best Performing ETFs of 2025

For most of the past decade, gold miner ETFs have been the underachievers of the commodities world. Even when gold prices rallied, the miners often lagged, weighed down by rising costs, production hiccups, and investor skepticism. This year has been different.

Five of the 10 best-performing U.S.-listed ETFs in 2025 (excluding leveraged, inverse, and single-stock products) are tied to gold miners, and another three are tied to silver miners.

The Sprott Gold Miners ETF (SGDM) leads with a 79% gain, followed closely by the iShares MSCI Global Gold Miners ETF (RING) and the iShares MSCI Global Silver and Metals Miners ETF (SLVP), both up 77%. 

Rounding out the group are the Global X Silver Miners ETF (SIL), the VanEck Gold Miners ETF (GDX), the Amplify Junior Silver Miners ETF (SILJ), the VanEck Junior Gold Miners ETF (GDXJ), and the Themes Gold Miners ETF (AUMI), all posting gains in the 69–72% range.

It’s the kind of category sweep that happens when one trade dominates the market and fund issuers have built plenty of ways to access it (19 U.S.-listed ETFs focused on either gold or silver miners, according to ETF.com’s Topics pages).

Gold is up 28% this year, while silver has soared 32%, with gold hitting a record above $3,400/oz in April and silver reaching a 14-year high above $39 in July. The SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) and the iShares Silver Trust (SLV) have tracked those gains closely.

But while the metal-backed funds have done well, the miners have done even better, an inversion of the usual pattern over the past several years. If it holds through December, 2025 will be the first year since 2019 that GDX—the largest miner ETF by assets under management—finishes ahead of GLD.

Rising precious metals prices have boosted miner margins and strengthened balance sheets, though the industry's checkered history with capital allocation still looms large for long-time investors.

That might explain why money hasn’t followed performance. Investors have pulled $3.5 billion from GDX this year and $1.2 billion from GDXJ. 

Silver miners have been the exception. SIL has pulled in $552 million and SILJ $329 million—perhaps attracting investors who see them as the higher-beta, more explosive way to play the precious metals trade.

Outside of Miners

The only non-precious metals ETFs in the top 10 have their own catalysts. The Global X MSCI Greece ETF (GREK) is up 74%, buoyed by a potential reclassification of Greece from “emerging” to “developed” market status by major index providers. 

That upgrade, if it happens, could force buying from developed-market index funds. A Moody’s credit-rating lift to investment grade in March added to the momentum, as did continued improvement in Greece’s fiscal position and banking sector. 

Still, flows for GREK have been modest, just $62 million in new money this year, leaving GREK’s $328 million AUM small given its performance.

Meanwhile, the Select Stoxx Europe Aerospace & Defense ETF (EUAD) has climbed 73% on the back of strong demand for defense stocks across Europe, supported by rising defense budgets and geopolitical tensions. 

The fund has attracted $933 million in inflows this year, pushing assets to $1.1 billion. Another defense fund, the Global X Defense Tech ETF (SHLD), sits just outside the top 10 at No. 12, up 67% with more than $2 billion in inflows.

For a full list of the 10 best performing ETFs of 2025, see the table below.