The FIFA today published the 2023 edition of the Global Transfer Report, according to which in 2023 the absolute record of 74,836 cross-border transfers was reached. About 23,689 (31.7%) of these transfers involved professionals (men and women), while the other 51,147 (68.3%) were made by amateurs. After the drop in spending in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2023 clubs spent a new record for international transfer expenses, with a combined outlay that reached a total of $9.63 billion, an increase of 48.1% compared to 2022 and exceeding the previous record, set in 2019, by over $2 billion.
The top ten player transfers alone generated more than 10% of the entire amount spent on transfers in 2023. Similarly, of the 3,279 transfers that involved a fee, the top 100 were responsible for over 45% of all money spent on transfers, with English clubs once again at the top of the list with $2.96 billion. German clubs are at the top of the list of fees received from outgoing transfers, with a total of over $1.2 billion. As in the previous year, Portuguese clubs completed more incoming transfers than clubs from any other association (1,017). Brazilian clubs, on the other hand, released the most players (1,217). A total of 1,024 clubs spent money on international transfers in 2023, the first time ever that more than 1,000 clubs have invested in transfer fees for new players from abroad. The number of clubs that received transfer fees, 1,241, also marked a new high.
Growth of Professional Women's Soccer
The impressive growth of professional women's soccer continued unabated in 2023, with over 20% more transfers last year compared to 2022. The number of clubs involved in international transfers also increased from 507 in 2022 to 623 in 2023, an increase of 22.9%. All these numbers reflect the huge strides made in the women's game, with an increasing number of players turning professional. In 2023, about 1,888 international transfers of professional female players were recorded, with a new high of 131 associations (+7.4% compared to 2022) involved in these transfers.
International Transfers of Amateurs
In 2023, more than 50,000 amateur players moved abroad to join a club from a new association. About 91.7% of these players were male. The global reach of amateur soccer is impressive: 207 of the 211 FIFA-affiliated associations were involved in at least one amateur transfer last year. The leading association in terms of the number of incoming amateur transfers was Germany with a total of 7,825. The Global Transfer Report 2023 also includes analysis on the nationalities of players, on age and on movements between confederations and associations, as well as the list of the best transfers in both the men's and women's game.
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