The global art market totaled USD 65 billion in 2023, contracting by 4 percent year-over-year but remaining above its USD 64.4 billion pre-pandemic high, according to The Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report 2024, authored by Dr. Clare McAndrew, the founder of Arts Economics.
Global art sales decreased by 4 percent from their 2022 level of USD 67.8 billion to an estimated USD 65 billion but remained above the 2019 pre-pandemic level of USD 64.4 billion. All the major art markets aside from China saw marked declines in sales total. This was offset by an increase in volume, with 39.4 million transactions, up by 4 percent on 2022, driven by strength at the lower end.
The UK, meanwhile, saw its market drop by a stiff 8 percent to USD 10.9 billion in 2023 from its USD 11.9 billion level in 2022. As another hub for the priciest material at auction, it was strongly affected by the decline in trading at the top end.Dealers struggle with higher costs and reluctant buyers, but do better at the lower end
Smaller galleries and dealers with turnover under USD 500,000 had the largest increase in sales , while those with turnover exceeding USD 10 million saw an average decline of 7 percent. While performance was mixed across various sectors, dealers overall saw sales slow by 3 percent year-over-year to USD 36.1 billion from their 2022 level of USD 37.2 billion.
Public auction sales saw a more pronounced decline than their dealer counterparts. There, sales fell by 7 percent to USD 25.1 billion, compared to the dealers’ 3 percent. The contraction could have been worse, but for auction sales in China that, in the first half of 2023, offered material from sales scheduled for 2022 but were postponed due to pandemic lockdowns.