Clubs in men’s professional game paid USD 1.37 billion in service fees for club agents, an increase of over 90% compared to last year
Teams in women’s professional football spent more than twice as much on service fees for agents as last year
English sides were the top spenders in the men’s game, with a combined outlay of more than USD 375 million
The total spending on club agent international transfers service fees in men’s professional football this year (between 1 of January and 1 of December) amounted to USD 1.37 billion, an increase of more than 90% compared to last year, according to FIFA’s Football Agents Report 2025.
The figure represents the highest-ever total for a full year and far exceeds the previous record, registered in 2023 (USD 889.4 million).
Clubs in the UEFA region account for the largest share of global spending on agents. The European dominance in this regard can largely be attributed to English clubs, which were by far the top spenders, with a combined outlay of over USD 375 million.
German clubs were the second-biggest spenders on agents, with USD 165 million. England had the highest share of incoming transfers that involved an engaging-club agent, with 51.1%, whereas Serbia recorded the greatest share of outgoing transfers with a releasing-club agent, with 28.7%.
This year, club agents were involved in a total of 3,010 international transfers, which is a new record and an increase of 38.1% compared to last year. The number of international transfers involving an agent acting on behalf of the player totalled 3,730 this year. This corresponds to 15.3% of all transfers and is an increase of 19.9% on last year.
In women’s professional football, club spending on the services of club agents amounted to over USD 6.2 million. This figure is over 13 times the level recorded in 2020 and more than twice as high as last year (USD 3.1 million).
The first-ever fully online FIFA football agent exam, featuring live invigilation, attracted a total of 16.117 applications this year, which is the highest number in the exam’s history. The top countries for applications were Great Britain, France, USA, Spain and Brazil. As of 4 December 2025, there are currently 10.525 licenced agents.
“The numbers this year confirm the growing relevance of Football Agents in professional football,” says FIFA’s Head of Agents Patricio Varela. “We expect this trend to continue in the coming year, which underscores the importance of having a comprehensive and enforceable FIFA Football Agents Regulations in place to support this evolution.”
Inside FIFA has a dedicated section that contains all football agent-related information and documents.