The Best Eurozone Government Bond ETFs

Screening exchange-traded funds with a Morningstar Medalist Rating of Gold or Silver brings up a wide range of providers

Valerio Baselli 19 March, 2025 | 7:41AM
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Illustrazione a collage della parola "FNB" con un orologio e forme sullo sfondo.

Exchange-traded funds can offer a simple and inexpensive way to gain exposure to eurozone sovereign debt and some of these are highly rated by Morningstar’s fund analysts. This comes at a time when yields on eurozone debt are rising sharply and investor interest is intensifying.

Following Germany’s fiscal revolution, expectations for future government spending across the eurozone are shifting rapidly, sending longer-term bond prices tumbling and pushing up bond yields sharply. Yields on 10-year German Bunds, the benchmark security for the eurozone and one that is considered the lowest risk, reached nearly 3% on the news, a rise of 52 basis points in a month. Yields on French and Italian debt also rose.

To help investors find ETFs focused on bonds issued by eurozone states, we’ve screened 67 ETFs in Morningstar’s EUR Government Bond category for those with either Gold or Silver Medalist Ratings.

A Gold Rating means our analysts believe a fund has the greatest chance of outperforming its category over the long term, while a Silver Rating means they believe it will outperform its relevant performance benchmark and/or peer group.

Eurozone Bond ETF Fund Providers

A number of different providers make the list:

  • iShares Core € Govt Bond UCITS ETF EUR (Dist) SEGA
  • SPDR Bloomberg Euro Government Bond UCITS ETF GOVY
  • Vanguard EUR Eurozone Government Bond UCITS ETF VETY
  • Amundi IS Prime Euro Govies UCITS ETF PRAR
  • Xtrackers II Eurozone Government Bond UCITS ETF 1C XGLE

Screening For the Best Eurozone Government Bond ETFs

We screened for ETFs with Gold or Silver Medalist Ratings that are 100% assigned by Morningstar analysts (rather than indirectly or quantitatively assigned). All the five ETFs that made it through the screen hold a Medalist Rating of Gold and are passively managed. Three of them track the Bloomberg Euro Aggregate Treasury Total Return Index, one tracks the Solactive Eurozone Sovereign Bond Index and the other one replicates the Markit iBoxx EUR Sovereigns Eurozone Index.

Here’s a closer look at the strategies:

iShares Core € Govt Bond UCITS ETF SEGA


The £4.8 billion iShares Core € Govt Bond UCITS ETF fell 0.68% over the past year. The fund fell further than its benchmark, the Morningstar Eurozone Treasury Bond Index, by 4 basis points. Year to date, the iShares fund is down 0.86%.

SPDR Bloomberg Euro Government Bond UCITS ETF Acc GOVY


The £1.5 billion SPDR Bloomberg Euro Government Bond UCITS ETF Acc lost 0.08% over the past year. The fund fell further than its benchmark by 0.72 percentage points. Year to date, the State Street fund shed 2.57%.

Vanguard EUR Eurozone Government Bond UCITS ETF VETY


Over the past year, the passively managed Vanguard EUR Eurozone Government Bond UCITS ETF fell 0.46%, while the average EUR government bond fund lost 0.77%. The fund placed in the 27th percentile for performance and edged out its benchmark, the Morningstar Eurozone Treasury Bond Index, by 0.18 percentage points. The £3 billion fund has dropped 0.43% year to date, falling further than the average fund in its category, which fell 0.08%.

Amundi Index Solutions Prime Euro Govies PRAR


The passively managed Amundi Prime Euro Govies lost 0.68% over the past year, falling less than the average fund in the EUR government bond category, which fell 0.77%. The fund placed in the 37th percentile for performance and fell further than its benchmark by 0.04 percentage points. The £1.3 billion fund has lost 0.41% year to date, while the average fund in its category is down 0.08%.

Xtrackers II Eurozone Government Bond UCITS ETF XGLE


The £2.7 billion Xtrackers II Eurozone Government Bond UCITS ETF fell 1.13% over the past year. The loss on the passively managed fund was worse than the 0.77% loss on the average fund in the EUR government bond category, leaving it in the 33rd percentile for performance. The fund fell further than its benchmark by 0.49 percentage points. Year to date, the Xtrackers fund fell 0.76%, while the average fund in its category fell 0.08%.


The author or authors do not own shares in any securities mentioned in this article. Find out about Morningstar's editorial policies.

The information contained within is for educational and informational purposes ONLY. It is not intended nor should it be considered an invitation or inducement to buy or sell a security or securities noted within nor should it be viewed as a communication intended to persuade or incite you to buy or sell security or securities noted within. Any commentary provided is the opinion of the author and should not be considered a personalised recommendation. The information contained within should not be a person's sole basis for making an investment decision. Please contact your financial professional before making an investment decision.

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Valerio Baselli

Valerio Baselli  is Senior International Editor at Morningstar.

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