Football clubs spent an all-time high of $7.36 billion on player transfer fees in the 2023 mid-year window, the governing body Fifa said on Friday.
The figure reached between 1 June and 1 September represents an increase of 47.2 per cent compared to the 2022 mid-year period and a 26.8 per cent rise compared to the previous mid-year record set in 2019, Fifa said in a statement.
"England topped the list... when it came to spending on transfer fees ($1.98 billion), the number of incoming transfers (449) and the number of outgoing transfers (514)," Fifa Chief Legal & Compliance Officer Emilio Garcia Silvero said.
"Germany, however, was the No 1 in terms of receipts from transfer fees ($1.11 billion) – this being the first time ever that clubs from a single association have received more than $1 billion in the mid-year transfer window alone."
Saudi Arabia was the second highest spender with a total of $875.4 million, after players such as Brazil star Neymar, Senegal forward Sadio Mane and Brazil midfielder Fabinho signed for Saudi clubs.
As a result, clubs from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) region accounted for 14 per cent of the global transfer spending, marking the first time that teams from a confederation other than Uefa have surpassed 10 per cent of the total, Fifa said.
France ($859.7 million) completed the top three of the biggest spenders on player transfer activity, ahead of Germany ($762.4 million), Italy ($711.0 million) and Spain ($405.6 million).
In the women's game, spending on transfer fees more than doubled compared to the 2022 mid-year window, reaching a new mid-year record of $3.0 million.