Art Basel and UBS’s annual “The Art Market” report is released today, illustrating an art market facing “geopolitical tensions, economic pressures, and shifting buyer behaviors.”
Cultural economist Dr. Clare McAndrew authored the ninth edition of the report, released by international art fair Art Basel and private bank UBS. It draws on data from various sources, such as online databases, art dealers, collectors, art fairs, and auction houses, among others.
Here, we share five key takeaways.
1. Art sales were down in 2024, but volumes continued to rise
Total global art sales in 2024 decreased by 12% to an estimated $57.5 billion, a much sharper decline than in 2023, when sales dipped by 4% year-on-year. Sales declines were observed across both dealer and public auction sales. Dealer sales values fell by 6% to $34.1 billion, and public auction sales experienced a sharper decrease of 25%. In contrast, private sales conducted by auction houses showed a 14% increase compared to the previous year.
“2024 presented a year of continuing geopolitical tensions, economic volatility, and trade fragmentation,” the report noted. “Some markets had stubbornly high inflation, higher-for-longer interest rates, and other region-specific issues that continued to weigh on the sentiment and plans of buyers and sellers.”
However, the art market saw an increase in sales volume—the overall number of transactions—which rose by 3% to 40.5 million transactions in 2024. This builds on last year’s increase of 4% and continues a trend of increased transaction volumes since the COVID-19 pandemic, partly thanks to online channels. “The four-year period of post-pandemic growth in volumes has also been driven by the acceleration in the digitization of the market, with the expansion of online sales allowing the market to increase the volume of transactions,” noted the report.
The “main drag” on overall market growth, the report found, is at the top-end of the market where “volumes are much thinner.” The number of lower-priced artworks being sold, however, experienced continued growth. In 2022, transactions for artworks priced below $50,000 accounted for 73% of dealers’ sales. This percentage increased significantly by 13% in 2023 and then stabilized at an 85% share in 2024.
2. Online art sales remained stable in 2024
Online art sales maintained their share of total sales at 18% in 2024, consistent with the previous year and notably higher than pre-pandemic levels. In 2019, online sales made up just 13% of total dealer sales, underscoring the substantial, long-term growth in the segment.
In 2024, online sales represented 22% of total dealer sales, a slight decrease of 1% from 2023. Notably, the proportion of online dealer sales to new buyers rose to 46%, up from 35% in 2023, indicating a growing trend of new market entrants choosing digital channels as their point of access. This was mirrored in the auction sector, the report stated: “E-commerce is a key entry point to the market for new buyers for dealers and at auction. Online channels have been consistently identified as the main source of new buyers for auction houses, and almost half of the sales dealers made online in 2024 were to new buyers.”
Amid the general slowdown in the market overall, online sales dipped by 11% to $10.5 billion—still 76% above the pre-pandemic levels of 2019.
3. Smaller dealers saw increased sales in 2024
Smaller dealers experienced a notable uptick in sales, the report found. Dealers with an annual turnover of less than $250,000 saw a significant increase in aggregated sales, rising by 17% in 2024. This segment previously showed the weakest rebound in 2021 and 2022, but has now risen for a second year in a row after growing 11% in 2023.
Conversely, most other dealer segments saw sales declines. Mid-range dealers with turnovers between $250,000 and $500,000 saw sales decrease by 6% between 2023 and 2024, starkly contrasting their 12% growth from 2022 to 2023. Dealers with $500,000 to $1 million also faced stagnation, with a marginal sales increase of 1%, down from 4% growth in the previous period. Dealers reporting turnovers exceeding $5 million reported a 3% decline, and those with turnovers of $10 million or more experienced a 9% decrease in sales. The segment between $500,000 to $1 million was relatively flat, with sales rising by 1% versus 4% in 2023.
The slowdown at the higher end of the market is cited frequently in the report as a key factor in overall market declines in 2024. Among the dealers with turnovers of more than $10 million, 64% reported lower sales compared to last year, in contrast to 23% of the smallest dealers with turnovers of less than $250,000. In terms of the broader picture, some 48% of dealers overall reported higher sales in 2024 than in 2019.
4. The U.K. regained its position as the world’s second-largest art market
The U.K. was the world’s second-largest art market in 2024, accounting for 18% of global sales by value. While this represents a 1% increase in market share year-on-year, sales in the U.K. declined by 5% to $10.4 billion.
This places the U.K. above China, which was the second largest market by share in 2023. China’s global share of art sales dipped 4% year-on-year to represent 15% of the global market in 2024. Art sales in China declined by 31% year-on-year to reach their lowest level since 2009. The report cited several challenges facing its market, including slower economic growth and a persistent slump in the property market.
The United States maintained its lead as the dominant global art market, accounting for 43% of global sales, an increase of 1% from last year. Still, sales in the country declined by 10% year-on-year to $27.2 billion.
In the E.U., overall sales fell by 8% to $8.3 billion, and included a 10% sales decline in France. In Asia, markets showed “varied” performance, the report found. Sales in South Korea decreased 15% year-on-year, while Japan notably bucked the trend with a 2% growth in sales.
5. Women artists are seeing progress—but parity has not yet been reached
Dealer representation of women artists continued its upward trend in 2024. The presence of women artists increased by 1% in 2024, bringing overall dealer representation to 41%.
The most notable growth took place among primary market galleries, which showed women artist representation rising from 42% in 2022 to 46% in 2024. The share of sales attributed to women artists in primary market galleries has increased to 42%, compared to 39% in 2023.
Smaller galleries are closer to achieving parity when it comes to gender representation. Women artists account for 49% of represented artists for dealers with turnover of less than $250,000. Among galleries with turnovers exceeding $10 million, women artists constituted 33% of the representation, a decrease of 2% from the previous year. Sales from works by women artists in this segment made up 30% of turnover in 2024, up from 28% in 2023. While this figure indicates growth, it is below that of smaller dealers, where the sale share was 38% for those turning over less than $250,000.
One notable finding from the report is that galleries with more than 50% representation of women artists showed a 4% increase in sales, compared to those with less than 50%. (The report notes that there is not enough information to establish a direct relationship further than correlation.)
Representation of women artists also varied from region to region. Dealers in the United States now show 46% representation of women artists, which is up 10% from last year. On the other hand, galleries in China and the United Kingdom show far less parity, with only 25% and 29%, respectively.
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