Shanghai, April 8, 2025 – Art Basel and UBS Group AG ("UBS") today jointly released the ninth edition of the "Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report 2025," which provides a comprehensive macro analysis of the overall development and trends of the global art market in 2024. Against the backdrop of the continuous adjustment of the global economic and wealth landscape, the report conducts an in-depth assessment of the performance of various segments, including galleries and art dealers, auction houses, and art fairs. The report is authored by Dr. Clare McAndrew, founder of Arts Economics and a cultural economist.
Dr. Clare McAndrew, founder of Arts Economics and author of the report, said: "Despite the total value of the art market declining for two consecutive years, the survey reveals a positive trend, namely the continuous growth in the trading volume of artworks priced below $50,000, highlighting the resilience and potential of the lower-priced market segment. Art dealers and auction houses have successfully expanded their new buyer base, bringing a broader and more diverse sales foundation to the market. Looking ahead, to achieve long-term and sustainable growth, the key lies in expanding market reach, especially by reducing restrictions to facilitate the cross-border circulation of artworks."
Lui Tsz Kit, Head of UBS Wealth Management China, said: "In 2024, the Chinese art market followed the same trend as the global market. After recovering from the pandemic, sales declined. With the Chinese government launching a number of economic stimulus policies and measures at the end of 2024, we expect their effects to gradually manifest in the short term. Chinese art dealers are generally cautiously optimistic, with half of them expecting sales to rebound in 2025."
Noah Horowitz, Executive Director of Art Basel, said: "In 2024, the high-end market continued to slow down, influenced by persistent economic and geopolitical uncertainties and changes in collectors' behavior. However, new buyers remained active in entering the market, driving the acceleration of overall sales volume, and the trading volume at art fairs also increased. Therefore, in the current market environment, expanding the network and optimizing customer retention strategies are particularly urgent and crucial. The recently concluded Art Basel Hong Kong exhibition confirms this trend, with strong sales at the beginning of 2025 and attracting active participation from both new and seasoned collectors from Asia and around the world. This market dynamic warrants our continued close attention."
The main findings of the "Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report 2025" include:
Under the continuous influence of global economic uncertainties, the total sales of the global art market in 2024 were approximately $57.5 billion.
The high-end market experienced a strong recovery after the pandemic in 2022 and then declined, leading to an annual drop of 12% in the total sales of the global art market. This is also the second consecutive year of sales slowdown in the high-end art market.
In 2024, the trading volume increased by 3% to 40.5 million transactions, demonstrating the overall vitality of the market, especially in the lower-priced market segment. The activity in the entry-level market also drove the sales growth of art dealers and auction houses.
Overview of leading and major markets:
The United States remained the world's largest art market, with sales reaching $24.8 billion in 2024. Although it decreased by 9% year-on-year, it still accounted for 43% of the global total sales.
The United Kingdom regained its position as the second-largest market globally with a market share of 18%, with sales of $10.4 billion, a slight decrease of 5% compared to 2023.
China dropped to the third place, with sales declining by 31% to $8.4 billion, and its market share falling to 15%.
Sales in most major European markets slowed down. France remained the world's fourth-largest market with sales of $4.2 billion, maintaining a 7% share of the global market. The total sales in the EU region were $8.3 billion.
The performance of Asian markets was mixed. Japan bucked the trend and its sales increased by 2% year-on-year.
Art fairs continue to play an important role: In 2024, art fairs remained the main channel for art dealers to expand their new buyer base. 31% of the surveyed dealers considered it the most crucial, followed by impromptu visitors to the gallery (23%) and referrals from existing customers (16%).
The proportion of new buyers increased: The survey of art dealers showed that 44% of the buyers in 2024 were new customers, and the proportion of sales from new buyers also rose to 38%, an increase of 5 percentage points compared to 2023. Small dealers had the highest proportion of new buyers, reaching 50%, highlighting their key role in market expansion. In contrast, large dealers with annual turnover exceeding $10 million, after expanding their buyer base in 2023, shifted to a strategy of focusing on their core customer groups in 2024, concentrating on selling high-priced works to a smaller number of collectors. Nevertheless, the proportion of new buyers in the high-end market still reached 40%.
Dealers' self-operated online platforms are more popular: In 2024, the total online sales in the global art market decreased by 11% to $10.5 billion, lower than the levels of the past four years, but still 76% higher than before the pandemic in 2019. The growth mainly came from art dealers' self-operated websites and online platforms, and their sales share has doubled since 2019.
The market visibility of female artists continues to increase: The proportion of female artists represented by art dealers steadily increased, reaching 41% in 2024, a 6% increase compared to 2018.
The market outlook is stabilizing, and medium-sized market dealers are the most optimistic: Looking ahead to 2025, 80% of art dealers expect sales to remain flat (47%) or increase (33%). The mid-market is the most confident. At the end of 2024, 51% of dealers expected sales in the range of $500,000 to $1 million to increase, significantly higher than one-third at the end of 2023. Most large dealers with an annual turnover of more than $10 million expect sales to remain stable, with 19% expecting growth. Political and economic fluctuations remain the biggest challenges facing the art market, followed by maintaining relationships with existing collectors.
