Art investment statistics show a large but changing market. Global art-market sales were estimated at $57.5 billion in 2024, then rose to an estimated $59.6 billion in 2025. Transaction volume increased in both years, while collector surveys point to substantial allocations, growing digital participation, and continued interest in galleries, fairs, auctions, and museums.
Contents
- Global market size and activity
- Regional markets and trade
- Collector wealth and spending
- Buying channels and portfolio composition
- Auctions and event activity
- Outlook and future buying plans
- How to interpret these statistics
Global market size and activity
The Art Basel and UBS Art Market Report estimated global art-market sales at $57.5 billion in 2024, a 12% year-over-year decline. Even as value fell, estimated transaction activity reached 40.5 million, up 3%. This contrast suggests that more transactions did not necessarily translate into a higher total market value.
The market was divided across several sales routes. Dealer sales fell 6% in value in 2024, while public-auction sales fell 25%. Private sales by auction houses moved in the opposite direction, increasing 14% during the year. These figures describe market segments, rather than the return generated by any individual artwork.
The following year brought a moderate recovery in the reported global total:
| Measure | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Global art-market sales | $57.5 billion, down 12% | $59.6 billion, up 4% |
| Global transactions | 40.5 million, up 3% | 41.5 million, up 2% |
| Public-auction sales by value | Down 25% | Up 9% |
| Dealer sales by value | Down 6% | Up 2% |
| Private auction-house sales | Up 14% | Down 5% |
The 2025 figures were estimated global market totals. According to the Global Art Market — The Art Basel & UBS Art Market Report 2026 By Arts Economics, total sales increased 4% to $59.6 billion, transactions rose 2% to 41.5 million, public-auction sales increased 9%, and the dealer sector increased 2%. Private auction-house sales declined 5%.
Regional markets and trade
The United States remained the largest national market in the 2024 figures, accounting for 43% of global art sales by value. The United Kingdom accounted for 18%, while China, including Mainland China and Hong Kong, accounted for 15%. Together, these three markets represented 76% of global art sales by value in 2025, according to the later Art Basel and UBS report.
The 2024 regional totals show how uneven the market contraction was. US art-market sales declined 9% to $24.8 billion. UK sales reached $10.4 billion, down 5%, while China sales fell 31% to $8.4 billion. France declined 10% to $4.2 billion, and European Union art-market sales fell 8% to $8.3 billion. These regional estimates come from The Global Market — The Art Basel & UBS Art Market Report 2025 By Arts Economics.
The 2025 data indicates some improvement in selected markets. US art-market sales reached $26.0 billion, up 5% year over year, and France rose 9% to $4.5 billion. US imports of art and antiques increased 13% to $9.9 billion, while US exports of art and antiques fell 1%. Import and export measures describe cross-border trade activity, not investment performance.
Collector wealth and spending
Survey results for active high-net-worth individuals, or HNWIs, indicate that art can represent a sizable share of reported wealth. HNWIs allocated an average of 20% of their wealth to art in 2025, compared with 15% in 2024. Ultra-high-net-worth individuals with more than $50 million in assets reported an average allocation of 28% in 2025.
Experience was associated with different reported allocations. Collectors with two years or less of collecting experience allocated 16% of wealth to art in 2025, while those with more than 20 years of experience allocated 24%. Gen Z collectors reported an average 26% allocation.
Inheritance was also significant: 84% of surveyed HNWIs had inherited artworks, representing almost 30% of the works they owned. Separately, the Deloitte Art & Finance report estimated $2.174 trillion associated with UHNWIs’ art and collectibles in 2022. That Deloitte figure covers art and collectibles associated with UHNWIs, rather than art alone. See Wealth & Allocations to Art — The Art Basel & UBS Survey of Global Collecting 2025 By Arts Economics and Art & Finance report | Deloitte Switzerland.
Spending measures provide another view of collector activity. HNWIs spent an average of $438,990 across an average of 14 works in 2024. Women HNWIs spent 46% more than men on average. Ten percent spent more than $500,000 on art and antiques, and 7% spent more than $1 million.
The median HNWI expenditure was $22,000 in the first half of 2025, compared with $24,000 for full-year 2024. Average spending also varied by generation: Boomer HNWIs reported nearly $993,000 in average art-and-antiques spending in 2024, versus $523,000 for Millennial HNWIs. These are survey results and should not be read as typical spending for all collectors.
Buying channels and portfolio composition
The survey found that 83% of HNWIs bought through a gallery, dealer, social-media, or art-fair channel in 2024/2025. Among HNWIs who bought from dealers, 51% made at least one Instagram purchase without viewing the work in person. Art fairs were also influential: 58% made purchases linked to art fairs.
Dealers accounted for 43% of the value of HNWI art transactions in 2024/2025. Direct purchases from artists accounted for 20% of HNWI art spending by value. Auctions reached 49% of HNWIs by participation, but represented 12% of spending by value. Participation and spending share therefore measure different aspects of the market.
The portfolio mix extended beyond traditional paintings. Paintings accounted for 27% of total fine-art spending by HNWIs in 2024. Fifty-one percent of surveyed HNWIs bought a digital artwork in 2024/2025, and digital art represented 14% of spending. In 2025, HNWIs spent 59% of combined art-and-collectibles budgets on fine art, decorative art, and antiques, compared with 41% on collectibles.
These channel and composition figures are reported in Sales Channels — The Art Basel & UBS Survey of Global Collecting 2025 By Arts Economics and HNWI Spending on Art — The Art Basel & UBS Survey of Global Collecting 2025 By Arts Economics.
Auctions and event activity
A major New York auction series illustrates how concentrated high-value sales can be. Christie’s 20th- and 21st-century sales generated $689 million across eight sales in November 2024. The sales were 87% sold by lot and 92% sold by value, and achieved 123% of the aggregate low estimate including hammer and premium.
The same Christie’s week produced an individual result of $121.2 million for René Magritte’s L’empire des lumières and set 18 artist records. These results are from one auction house, city, season, and group of sales; they do not describe the entire auction market. Details appear in Christie’s 20/21 sales achieve $689 million.
Collector engagement also includes education and exposure. HNWIs attended an average of 48 art-related events in 2024: 14 museum exhibitions, seven gallery exhibitions, and six art fairs on average. Looking ahead, 96% planned to attend art events in 2026, and 48% hoped to attend more events than in 2025. Event attendance can indicate engagement, but it is not a measure of financial return.
Outlook and future buying plans
The survey outlook reflects intentions rather than realized investment performance. Forty percent of HNWIs planned to buy more art in the next 12 months, while 25% planned to sell. Another 25% planned to donate artworks. Among HNWIs with buying plans, 37% hoped to buy sculpture, 23% digital art, and 21% photography in the next 12 months.
Optimism was high in the survey: 84% of HNWIs were optimistic about the art market’s performance for the rest of 2025, and 81% were optimistic about the following 12 months. These percentages report expectations at the time of the 2025 survey, not guaranteed appreciation or a forecast of realized returns. The source is Outlook & Buying Plans — The Art Basel & UBS Survey of Global Collecting 2025 By Arts Economics.
How to interpret these statistics
The collector figures are descriptive results from the Art Basel and UBS Survey of Global Collecting 2025, covering active HNWIs across 10 markets. They are not representative of all art buyers. Market totals are estimated figures, while buying-plan and outlook percentages are survey intentions.
Art purchases also carry market, liquidity, valuation, authentication, custody, tax, and transaction-cost risks. A high allocation, auction result, or optimistic survey response does not establish that a particular artwork will appreciate. The statistics are informational and are not personal financial advice.