Global art sales plummeted by 12% in 2024, says industry report

Cooling interest in contemporary works and slow high-end sales contributed to another “challenging year” for the art market, according to UBS and Art Basel’s annual report.

Global sales of art and antiques have fallen for a second consecutive year, declining by 12% in 2024 to an estimated $57.5 billion, according to the latest annual Art Market Report by Art Basel and UBS. “It’s been a very challenging year overall,” Clare McAndrew, the founder of the research firm Arts Economics, who authored the report, told The Art Newspaper. The year marked the third-largest contraction of the global art market in the past 15 years, the report found, eclipsed only by the years of the 2009 recession (-36%), and the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic (-22%), and on par with the 12% drop recorded in 2012. Sales fell in almost every region, with China most affected, seeing a decline of 33%. Sales in the US, the world’s largest art market, decreased by 9%, and slid by 10% in both France and Italy, and 15% in South Korea. “Despite Brexit-related challenges,” per the report, the UK contracted by a more moderate 5%, and has retained its position as the second-largest art market. As the report lays out, the dynamics of last year’s contraction broadly mirror those of 2023, when total sales fell by 4% with the highest price points most affected, due to “ongoing geopolitical tensions, economic pressures and shifting buying behavior.” The once-booming contemporary sector was hit hard, with sales at auction dropping by 36% to $1.4 billion, their lowest level since 2018. Amid a return to more tried-and-tested names, McAndrew noted a growing aversion to risk among buyers.