Which returned more over the last year, GDX or VXUS?

In the year to Sep 12, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GDX returned +40.2% and VXUS returned +22.3%, so GDX returned more. One year is one year; the longer windows are in the table.

Which is cheaper, GDX or VXUS?

GDX charges 0.51% a year and VXUS charges 0.05%, so VXUS is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

How much do GDX and VXUS overlap with the S&P 500?

By their latest filed holdings, 11% of GDX and 0% of VXUS by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds. Between the two funds, 1% of their books are the same securities at the same weight.

Are GDX and VXUS the same kind of fund?

No. GDX is a thematic ETF and VXUS is an index ETF, so they are built for different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and what each actually holds.

Data as of Sep 12, 2026. Both funds on the fields they both publish, from the same sources.

ETFIQetfiq.com · independent ETF data

GDX vs VXUS: how they differ

Over the year GDX returned more, +40.2% against +22.3%, and VXUS charges 0.05% against 0.51%.

VanEck Gold Miners ETF and Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund.

What they hold in common

By the books each fund has filed, GDX and VXUS hold 1% of their money in the same securities at the same weight.

Positions GDX and VXUS both hold, largest shared weight first
Holding	GDX	VXUS
Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd	10.67%	0.22%
Wheaton Precious Metals Corp	5.61%	0.14%
Franco-Nevada Corp	4.89%	0.10%
Kinross Gold Corp	4.40%	0.09%
Pan American Silver Corp	2.98%	0.05%
Northern Star Resources Ltd	2.64%	0.05%
Evolution Mining Ltd	1.65%	0.04%
Alamos Gold Inc	1.89%	0.04%
Endeavour Mining PLC	1.39%	0.03%
Equinox Gold Corp	1.27%	0.02%
First Majestic Silver Corp	1.43%	0.02%
Industrias Penoles SAB de CV	1.52%	0.02%

Largest positions each one holds and the other does not
Only in GDX	Only in VXUS
Newmont Corp 10.42%	Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Lt 3.97%
Gold Fields Ltd 4.07%	Samsung Electronics Co Ltd 1.67%
Coeur Mining Inc 2.38%	ASML Holding NV 1.32%
Royal Gold Inc 1.95%	SK hynix Inc 1.14%
Hecla Mining Co 1.38%	Tencent Holdings Ltd 0.89%
Harmony Gold Mining Co Ltd 1.08%	HSBC Holdings PLC 0.74%
Cia de Minas Buenaventura SAA 0.79%	Alibaba Group Holding Ltd 0.69%
Artemis Gold Inc 0.56%	AstraZeneca PLC 0.67%

Weight overlap is an ETFIQ calculation: for every security both funds hold, the smaller of the two weights, summed. Above 50%, holding both is close to holding one of them twice. Holdings dated Apr 30, 2026 and Jun 30, 2026.

GDX and VXUS on the fields both publish, as of Sep 12, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
	GDX VanEck Gold Miners ETF	VXUS Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund
Where it sits	Thematic ETF	Core index fund
Issuer	VanEck	Vanguard
What it is	Miners and metals	Total International Stock
Total return, 1 year	+40.2%	+22.3%
S&P 500 over the same days	+17.5%	+17.5%
Gap to the S&P 500	+22.7 pts	+4.8 pts
Expense ratio	0.51%	0.05%
Already in the S&P 500	11.0%	0.0%
Holdings	59	8775

GDX in plain words

By weight, 11% of GDX's portfolio is stocks that are also in the S&P 500; its active share against the S&P 500 is 100%. The top ten holdings are 58% of the fund across 59 positions, as published by its issuer for Sep 10, 2026. Over the year to Sep 11, 2026 the fund returned +40.2% with distributions reinvested against +17.5% for the S&P 500, so a holder was ahead by 22.7 pts. It sits 16.2% below its all-time high of Feb 27, 2026.

VXUS in plain words

VXUS is an index equity fund tracking the Total International Stock. Over the year to Sep 11, 2026 it returned +22.3% with distributions reinvested, against +17.5% for the S&P 500 and +23.0% for the Nasdaq-100. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.05% a year. By its holdings filed for Apr 30, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 8775 positions, with the top ten at 12.4%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, GDX or VXUS?: In the year to Sep 12, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GDX returned +40.2% and VXUS returned +22.3%, so GDX returned more. One year is one year; the longer windows are in the table.
Which is cheaper, GDX or VXUS?: GDX charges 0.51% a year and VXUS charges 0.05%, so VXUS is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do GDX and VXUS overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 11% of GDX and 0% of VXUS by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds. Between the two funds, 1% of their books are the same securities at the same weight.
Are GDX and VXUS the same kind of fund?: No. GDX is a thematic ETF and VXUS is an index ETF, so they are built for different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and what each actually holds.

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Where these figures came from

ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure. It is not affiliated with any issuer, and a link is not an endorsement.

GDX against VXUS, ETFIQ, data as of Sep 12, 2026. Every figure is arithmetic on a named public source; the method is at etfiq.com/methodology. A comparison is not a recommendation.

Cite this page. ETFIQ, GDX against VXUS, data as of Sep 12, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/GDX-VXUS Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.

A comparison is not a recommendation. Standards and sources