Art market 2025: sales up 4% to 59.6 billion dollars, according to the Art Basel and UBS report
The Art Basel and UBS Art Market Report 2026, released on 12 March 2026, puts global art sales at 59.6 billion dollars in 2025. Public auctions grew 9%, works above 10 million dollars 30%.
Global art sales reached an estimated 59.6 billion dollars in 2025, up 4% on the year. That is the headline of the Art Basel and UBS Art Market Report 2026, written by Arts Economics and released on 12 March 2026. Two weak years are over. The 2022 peak is still out of reach.
Auctions did the lifting. Public auction sales rose 9% to 20.7 billion dollars, after a sharp fall in 2024. Dealers, who still handle most of the money, grew more slowly: 34.8 billion dollars, up 2%. Private sales arranged by auction houses went the other way, down 5% to just under 4.2 billion dollars.
The top end recovered fastest. Sales of works above 10 million dollars grew 30%, with 9% more lots sold at that level. Above 1 million dollars the value of fine art sold at auction rose 21% and the number of transactions 15%, as Artlyst reported on the day of release. Online-only sales fell to 9.2 billion dollars, their lowest level since 2019.
The map barely moved. The United States sold 26.0 billion dollars of art, 44% of the world total, up 5%. The United Kingdom followed with 10.5 billion dollars and 18%, then China with 8.5 billion dollars and 14%, growth of just over 1%. France stood out: 4.5 billion dollars, up 9%, an 8% share. The three largest markets account for 76% of sales by value.
Volume is flatter. The report counts about 41.5 million transactions in 2025, only 2% more than in 2024. More money went into a small number of expensive works. Arts Economics also flags a slower risk for a trade built on works crossing borders: protectionism and a turn towards domestic sales.
A 4% rise says little about the price of a given Picasso or Richter. What moved in 2025 was the top of the auction market, where blue-chip names trade and prices are public. The New York sales of November 2026 will show whether that held.
Unicorn Art Watch tracks auction prices for 100 modern and post-war masters, and Unicorn Art Club runs club deals artist by artist on 30 of them, from 100,000 dollars per member and per artist. The guide listed among the sources explains how it works.
Investing involves the risk of losing capital.
Sources
- Art Basel, The Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report 2026 (2025 data), 12 March 2026
- Arts Economics, The Art Basel and UBS Art Market Report 2026, full report (PDF)
- Artlyst, Art Basel UBS Global Art Market 2026 reports 59.6 billion dollar recovery, 12 March 2026
- Macau Business (Art Basel and UBS press release), global art sales rose 4% to USD 59.6 billion in 2025, March 2026
- Unicorn Art Club, guide: how to invest in blue-chip art through Unicorn Art Club