Global art market returns to growth in 2025: up 4 percent and $59.6 billion

The global art market returns to growth in 2025 after two years of contraction, registering an overall increase of 4 percent and reaching an estimated value of $59.6 billion. This is the finding of the 10th edition of theArt Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report 2026, the annual study conducted by Clare McAndrew, founder of the research firm Arts Economics, which analyzes the industry’s performance by placing it in the international economic and asset context. The report, considered one of the leading reference tools for the industry, takes an in-depth look at the major sectors of the art system, from galleries to auction houses to fairs, offering a data-driven overview that provides insight into the dynamics that are redefining the global market.

According to Clare McAndrew, 2025 marked a change in direction after the downturn of previous years. Indeed, the market experienced moderate growth while continuing to operate in an environment characterized by geopolitical instability and growing uncertainty in international trade relations. Tensions related to tariffs and trade policies have also had indirect effects on the art sector, affecting prices and supply chains, while the emergence of more protectionist policies and increased focus on domestic sales pose a potential long-term risk to a market traditionally based on the international circulation of works and access to a global audience. Despite these critical issues, early indicators suggest that international art trade remained stable overall in 2025, although the evolution of these flows in the coming years will be crucial to the industry’s growth prospects.

Noah Horowitz, managing director of Art Basel, also points out that 2025 represented not only a return to growth but also a strategic turning point for the evolution of the art market. During the year, galleries refined their programs and collector relations strategies, while fair-related sales showed significant strengthening. Although high operating costs, geopolitical uncertainty and tariff concerns continue to affect business activity, buyer confidence gradually improved throughout the year, culminating in a series of major sales results in the final months of 2025.

In contrast,Paul Donovan, chief economist at UBS Global Wealth Management, highlights how the art market is undergoing a phase of structural adjustment that coincides with a broader transformation in the global distribution of wealth. The so-called Great Wealth Transfer, or the transfer of more than $83 trillion between generations expected in the coming decades, is profoundly changing the profile of collectors. With an increasing share of wealth passing into the hands of women and younger generations, family dynamics, collecting motivations, and philanthropic priorities are changing, factors that are bound to influence collecting patterns and the long-term relationship with the art market.

Overall market growth in 2025 was driven by both the gallery and public auction sectors. Gallery sales reached $34.8 billion, marking a 2 percent increase from the previous year, while public auction sales grew by 9 percent to $20.7 billion. Private sales handled by auction houses, on the other hand, declined 5 percent to just under $4.2 billion.

The return to growth represents a turning point after two consecutive years of decline, but the market still remains below the peak reached in 2022. Indeed, rising operating costs, the impact of tariff policies and the presence of new trade barriers that squeeze profit margins continue to weigh on industry dynamics. Despite these difficulties, overall transaction volume increased by 2 percent to approximately 41.5 million transactions during the year.

Geographically, the global market continues to be dominated by three main hubs: the United States, the United Kingdom and China, which together account for 76 percent of global sales by value. The United States remains the top global market with a 44 percent share, up one percentage point from the previous year, followed by the United Kingdom with 18 percent and China with 14 percent, down slightly.

In the United States, sales reached $26 billion in 2025, registering 5 percent growth despite uncertainty related to trade policies and two years of market contraction. In particular, the very high-value works segment showed signs of strong recovery: the total value of fine art sold at auction for more than $10 million increased by nearly 40 percent. The United Kingdom recorded sales of $10.5 billion, an increase of 2 percent over 2024. Here, growth was mainly driven by the public auction sector, while gallery sales showed a more subdued trend. In China, the market was affected by difficulties in the real estate sector and other economic concerns that affected consumer confidence. Still, sales grew just over 1 percent to $8.5 billion. Auction activity in mainland China showed strengthening, while the more internationally oriented Hong Kong market was more exposed to global challenges.

France, on the other hand, marked a marked turnaround after two years of decline. Sales reached $4.5 billion in 2025, a 9 percent increase over the previous year, supported by both good auction performance and growth in the gallery sector. This result brought the French market back above 2019 levels, consolidating it as the fourth largest market in the world and first within the European Union.

The picture in other European countries appears more mixed. Switzerland andAustria both recorded 13 percent growth, while Spain posted a 6 percent increase. In contrast, Germany andItaly recorded declines of 10 percent and 2 percent, respectively. Overall, supported mainly by France’s performance, theEuropean Union art market grew 3 percent to an estimated $8.4 billion.

In Asia, the dynamics were also mixed. Japan, which had been growing against the trend in 2024 compared to the rest of the market, had a weaker year with a 1 percent decrease in sales, while South Korea recorded a 6 percent increase.

The gallery sector showed signs of stabilization after two difficult years. In 2025, 42 percent of gallery owners reported an increase in sales, a share up seven percentage points from the previous year. In contrast, 33 percent reported a decline, while 25 percent reported stable results. At the same time, gallery operating costs increased by an average of 5 percent, a pace higher than both the rate of inflation in most major art markets and overall sales growth. This gap continues to pose a significant challenge to business profitability. Despite this, the share of gallery owners reporting a decline in profitability fell to 38 percent, five percentage points lower than the previous year, while 33 percent reported an improvement and 29 percent maintained similar levels to 2024.

Sales dynamics vary significantly by gallery size. The lowest segment of the market, composed of operators with turnovers of less than $500,000, reported double-digit increases in average sales. In contrast, galleries with turnovers between $1 million and $10 million saw a slight decline of 1 percent. At the top end of the market, galleries with turnovers over $10 million returned to growth with a 3 percent increase after two years of decline.

The report also shows a strengthening of the presence of female artists in galleries. Parity was achieved in the primary market, with 50 percent of artists represented, while considering the entire gallery sector the share rose to 45 percent, up from 41 percent in 2024 and 35 percent in 2018. Works by women artists accounted for 37 percent of total sales by value, up from 28 percent in 2018, and 44 percent in the primary market. Despite this progress, significant differences persist between market segments. In galleries with revenues under $250,000, women account for 55% of artists and 43% of sales, while in galleries with revenues over $10 million, the share drops to 35% of artists and 27% of sales, respectively.

From an industry structure perspective, 2025 did not show a significant increase in gallery closures, despite media attention on some high-profile cases. An analysis of publicly announced openings, closures, and relocations indicates that 42% of activity involved new openings, while closures accounted for 25%. The remaining 33 percent were characterized by relocations or structural changes, a sign of the industry’s adjustment phase. Among the most notable transformations is an increase in the weight of local collectors compared to international collectors. More than half of gallery owners reported increased indirect costs related to taxes, duties and administrative burdens in 2025, factors that discouraged some international transactions. As a result, many sales have shifted to local collectors, particularly among smaller galleries.

In the segment of galleries with turnovers under $250,000, the share of sales to domestic collectors rose to 71 percent, an increase of nine percentage points. Among galleries with turnovers over $10 million, the presence of local buyers also increased, reaching 29 percent and registering an increase of six percentage points over the previous year. The average number of buyers per gallery declined in 2025 to 57 unique customers, the lowest level since 2021. The steepest decline was in smaller galleries, where the average number of buyers decreased by 40 percent to 29 customers, the lowest figure since 2021 although still slightly above 2019 levels.

Despite this reduction, finding new buyers remains a strategic priority for the industry. In 2025, nearly half of the galleries’ clients, or 49 percent, were new buyers, up from 44 percent in the previous year. The highest share is among smaller galleries, where new clients account for 60 percent of buyers, while among galleries with turnovers over $10 million, the share stands at 39 percent.

Art fairs continue to be a key channel for gallery sales. In 2025, sales made through fairs reached 35 percent of total dealer sales, four percentage points higher than the previous year and the highest share since 2022. The majority of exhibition sales, 63 percent, were made at international events, while 37 percent were made at local fairs.

The auction sector experienced significant growth in 2025. Public sales increased by 9 percent to $20.7 billion, mainly due to increased activity in the second half of the year and several price records in the highest segment of the market. In contrast, private sales handled by auction houses declined by 5 percent.

Growth in public auctions was driven particularly by the high-value works segment. The value of works sold for more than $1 million increased by 21 percent, while the number of transactions in this bracket grew by 15 percent. In the ultra-high-end segment, with works sold for over $10 million, sales grew by 30% with a 9% increase in the number of lots. At the opposite end of the market, works priced below $50,000 declined 2% in both value and volume. The concentration of top sales in the United States increased further: all of the ten most expensive works of 2025 were sold in New York, which also hosted 39 of the 50 most expensive lots of the year.

As for the different art sectors, post World War II art remains the leading segment in fine art auctions with a 31 percent share of the total value. This is followed by modern art with 24 percent, impressionist and post-impressionist art with 19 percent, contemporary art with 14 percent, and the Old Masters market with 11 percent.

In 2025, sales of postwar art declined slightly by 3 percent to $3.1 billion. Modern art, on the other hand, recovered after three years of decline with a 9% increase to $2.4 billion, while contemporary art remained stable at $1.4 billion. The most pronounced growth was in the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist sector, up 47 percent from the previous year, while the Old Masters market also showed strong expansion with a 30 percent increase and sales close to $1.2 billion.

After strong growth in the pandemic years, online sales declined in 2025 to $9.2 billion, the lowest level since 2019. High-end sales have returned to be mainly concentrated in in-presence channels, while online-only auctions continue to be primarily a channel for mid- and low-end works. Despite the decline, digital platforms remain an important tool for attracting new collectors. However, the share of sales conducted exclusively online fell to 15 percent of the total market, down three percentage points from the previous year.

The outlook for 2026 appears more optimistic overall than a year ago. Forty-three percent of gallery owners expect sales to increase during the year, a share up ten percentage points from 2025. Thirty-eight percent expect a stable market, while 19 percent anticipate a contraction.

The mood in the auction sector also appears more positive. Nearly half of mid-range auction houses expect sales to improve, up 33 percentage points from the previous year. Only 21 percent of operators expect market conditions to worsen, still a lower share than the 40 percent recorded 12 months earlier. In a still complex global economic environment, the art market thus seems to be moving toward a rebalancing phase, supported by changing demand and a gradual redefinition of the dynamics among collectors, galleries, fairs and auction houses.

Global art market returns to growth in 2025: up 4 percent and $59.6 billion

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