Worldwide art sales fell by 12 percent last year, according to the Art Basel and UBS Art Market Report, published April 8. The report, written by economist Clare McAndrew, noted that the decline marked a second straight year of decreasing international sales and pointed to a “cooling at the top end” and “a year of continuing geopolitical tensions, economic volatility and trade fragmentation” as behind the slump.
“People were more risk-averse,” McAndrew told the New York Times. “On the supply side, people were waiting to see how things panned out and held on. That impacted what came on to the market.”
The report, which relied on publicly available auction house data as well as survey responses from roughly 1,600 dealers, estimated the total value of 2024 worldwide art sales at $57.5 billion, down from $68.2 billion a decade earlier. The decline comes even as billionaire wealth has more than doubled in the same period, to a record $15.6 trillion. Per the report, auction sales of single works that garnered more than $10 million tumbled by 39 percent, while galleries with a turnover of more than $10 million saw sales contract by 9 percent.
Sales sank in all key markets. The United States hung on to its status as the largest of these, but turnover there dipped 9 percent, to $24.8 billion as “the political uncertainty surrounding the presidential election” took a toll, the report says. Though hampered somewhat by Brexit, England saw sales shrink just 5 percent over 2023 and thus clambered back to second place in the market with $10.4 billion, while China experienced a 31 percent decline, to $8.4 billion. The report chalked up the dramatic dip to “slower economic growth, a continued property market slump and other economic challenges.”
In good news, auction sales of works hammering for less than $5,000 increased by 7 percent, while smaller galleries with turnover of less than $250,000 saw sales climb by 17 percent, marking a second year of growth for such dealers. Speaking to the Times, McAndrew cited the need to expand art sales beyond its extant core market; the report noted that the increase in low-dough sales highlights the importance of smaller galleries in doing so.
