Visitor Figures

The Art Newspaper’s Visitor Figures survey is conducted annually, and is the foremost authority on the attendance of art museums worldwide. Read the full 2022 report here

The Met down 1.7 million visitors compared to pre-pandemic level—the biggest drop of any US art museum

The New York institution, usually the most popular art museum in the US, was overtaken in 2022 by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC

The 100 most popular art museums in the world—who has recovered and who is still struggling?

Our exclusive Visitor Figures 2022 survey shows that numbers in Paris and Seoul were almost back to normal last year, while other major centres such as London struggled to hit pre-pandemic levels

Lee Cheshire and José da Silva. Research conducted by Alex Colville and Justin Kamp

Covid-era booking systems may be putting off visitors to UK museums

Mixed messages and time slotted tickets could be deterring some people

Louvre retains its place as the most-visited art museum in the world

Paris institution tops our visitor figures survey yet again, while the city’s other museums do well too

M+ becomes one of the most-popular art museums in Asia, despite Covid closures

The new Hong Kong museum attracted more than 2 million people in its first full year

Revealed: the top 20 most popular art museums on social media in 2023

We look at how the 100 most-visited museums in our Visitor Figures survey performed online

Aimee Dawson. Research conducted by Chinma Johnson-Nwosu

Will China’s museums still come out on top despite harsh Covid rules?

For much of 2022, Chinese cities were either in lockdown or braced for one

Two years on, London museums are still missing visitors—what's happened?

For the capital’s museums, historically so reliant on international tourists, recovery from the pandemic has been slow

What has happened to visitor numbers at Russian museums since the start of the war?

As Russia leaves the world cultural stage following its invasion of Ukraine, we look at how its art institutions have reacted