  We analyze the occurrence of in-plane anisotropy in the electronic, magnetic,
elastic and transport properties of more than one thousand 2D materials from
the C2DB database. We identify hundreds of anisotropic materials and classify
them according to their point group symmetry and degree of anisotropy. A
statistical analysis reveals that a lower point group symmetry and a larger
amount of different elements in the structure favour all types of anisotropies,
which could be relevant for future materials design approaches. Besides, we
identify novel compounds, predicted to be easily exfoliable from a parent bulk
compound, with anisotropies that largely outscore those of already known 2D
materials. Our findings provide a comprehensive reference for future studies of
anisotropic response in atomically-thin crystals and point to new previously
unexplored materials for the next generation of anisotropic 2D devices.
