Zachary Evens: International stocks roared back in 2025, with many major global indexes returning more than 20% last year. Some countries even gained more than 50%. That’s not to say there’s no more opportunity for international investors, though. As countries continue to focus on growth, and as government spending picks up around the world, supporting their local economies, there’s plenty of opportunity left for stock market growth.
Investors should be selective in choosing an international ETF. Avoid those with high fees, are highly concentrated, or those that severely limit global market exposure. Great long-term ETFs usually spread their bets across hundreds of stocks or bonds and are very cheap. Any of these three great international ETFs can be held for years, knowing that one market won’t spell trouble for the whole portfolio, and fees won’t take a meaningful bite out of returns.
3 Great International ETFs for 2026 and Beyond
- Schwab International Dividend Equity ETF SCHY
- Vanguard International Dividend Appreciation Index Fund ETF Shares VIGI
- Vanguard Total World Stock Index Fund ETF Shares VT
First up is Schwab International Dividend Equity ETF, which trades under the ticker SCHY. This income-focused international fund charges just 8 basis points annually for a portfolio of profitable companies that consistently pay dividends. It earns a Morningstar Medalist Rating of Silver and is the international cousin of fan-favorite Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF, SCHD.
SCHY replicates the Dow Jones International Dividend 100 Index. Despite holding just 100 stocks, diversification is not a problem here. The index holds largely high-quality companies from over 20 countries and limits sector weights to 15% and individual holdings to 4%.
This ETF’s yield focus places it in the foreign large value Morningstar Category, so it is poised to do well when international value stocks do well. It also generates a sturdy yield of over 3%. This should make it particularly palatable to income-oriented investors looking for international exposure.
Next on the list is Gold-rated Vanguard International Dividend Appreciation ETF, ticker VIGI. This ETF also targets dividend-payers but doesn’t explicitly target those with the highest payouts. Instead, it aims for those that have increased their payouts for at least seven consecutive years. Like SCHY, this gives the portfolio a sharp profitability focus. Unlike SCHY, it lands in the foreign large growth Morningstar Category and charges slightly more at 10 basis points annually.
The index this ETF tracks collects dividend-payers from more than 20 international markets and weights its holdings by market cap, with each holding subject to a 4% limit. This channels the wisdom of the crowds, keeps turnover low, and limits concentration risk.
The fund’s efficient approach for capturing high-quality dividend-payers has delivered solid long-term performance and earns it a coveted High Process Pillar rating, making it one of our highest-conviction strategies in the foreign large-growth segment.
I’m cheating a little with the next one since it does hold some US stocks, but it is maybe the best diversified ETF available to investors.
Vanguard Total World Stock ETF, VT, holds nearly 10,000 stocks across more than two dozen countries, charging investors just 6 basis points annually to do so. This low fee and unmatched global breadth earn it a Morningstar Medalist Rating of Gold.
This ETF is a snapshot of the global stock market. It tracks the vast FTSE Global All Cap Index, which includes stocks of all sizes in emerging and developed markets. The index is market-cap-weighted, further improving its representativeness of the global stock market by favoring the world’s most consequential companies.
Tilting toward large companies gives US stocks more attention, and they currently make up more than 60% of the portfolio. Performance will be steered by US companies, but if they falter, other markets are poised to pick up the slack. This is as close as stock investors can get to a “one-ticker solution,” making it easy and cheap to diversify around the globe.
International diversification is always a good idea, but allocating to just one or two global markets may concentrate your bets in too small a basket. The ETFs highlighted here should provide some peace of mind, knowing you’ll reap the success of nearly any high-flying international market while being somewhat insulated should one falter. Investors should be comfortable owning any of these three great international ETFs long past 2026.
Watch 3 Great ETFs for 2026 and Beyond for more from Zachary Evens.