Unveiling the 2024 Art Market: Key Insights from 2025 Stats and Reports

By Esrac, São Paulo, Brazil, June 2025

Introduction

The global art scene is a crucible of creativity, investment, and multi-million-dollar transactions, yet its health and direction are constantly under scrutiny. Two reports offers the most comprehensive and in-depth analysis of the art market’s performance in 2024, outlining trends and challenges that will shape its near future.

1. The Art Basel & UBS Art Market Report 2025, authored by Dr. Clare McAndrew of Arts Economics.
2. The Art Market in 2024 authored by Artprice.com and Artron.net.

For collectors, investors, gallerists, and artists, understanding this data is not merely a curiosity but a strategic necessity.

Key insights

In 2024, Key insights of the Art market are:

1. The Art Market is declining in value.
2. The number of artist is increasing.
3. The expansion of the volume of transactions over the last few years has been facilitated by e-commerce.
4. Selling prices are declining (more affordable paintings and artworks are available). For example, 80% of works were offered for less than USD 3500 in 2024 (lower-priced segments are growing). Highest-value sales remained off-line.
5. Digital innovation is impacting the art market in several areas:
   • Art transactions become digital (their value doubled in size since 2020). 18% of artworks sold online without viewing in person.
   • Art e-commerce is growing (accounted for 18% of total market sales). Online transactions continued to take place outside the traditional art market structure of galleries and auction houses in 2024. The main area of growth in online sales has been sales taking place on dealers’ own websites.
   • The role of artificial intelligence (AI) in art creation and commercialization is increasing.
6. There is a growing demand for social consciousness in art and sustainable practices.
7. The leading markets are USA, EU, UK and China. Main art cities are New York, London and Paris. USA accounts for more than 40% of global art market. It is worth noting that USA export more art than import.
8. The NFT market has declined.
9. 2024 was marked by surrealism.
10. The three main segments are:
    • Contemporary art (48%): late 1960s/early 1970s to the present day.
    • Post-War Art (17%): from the end of World War II (1945) up to the late 1960s or early 1970s.
    • Modern art (12%): Generally considered to span from the 1860s (Impressionism) to the 1960s.
11. The main medium for artworks are:
    1. Paintings (59%).
    2. Sculptures (15%).
    3. Works on paper (11%).
    4. Prints (7%).
    5. Photography (3%).
    6. Video (1%).
    7. Installations (1%).
    8. Digital arte (0,2%).

Global Panorama of the Art Market

In 2024, global art and antiques sales totaled approximately US$ 65.1 billion, representing a 3% decline in relation to the previous year. This initial data point is a fundamental thermometer for the health of the sector. Overall the market is declining.

Regional Markets

The United States maintained its dominant position, accounting for roughly 42% of the total global sales value. China emerged as the second largest market, with 17%, consolidating its global influence, while the United Kingdom remained as the third largest with 16%. This market hierarchy highlights the power centers and where art capital is most active.

The Vital Role of Dealers and Online Platforms

In 2024, sales via dealers registered a 2% decline, totaling approximately US$ 34.3 billion. However, the capacity for adaptation was notable. The smallest dealers with turnover of less than $250,000 reported the largest increase in sales. Dealers’ sales became more concentrated around top artists, with 56% of their annual turnover coming from their top three artists. Overall, dealers sold an average of 157 artworks in 2024 (13/month) and represented in average 19 artists in the primary market (where an artwork is sold for the very first time). Therefore, dealers sold 8 artworks by artist in average 157/19) during 2024.

A crucial point is the continued digitalization. Online sales continued to be a significant pillar, representing 18% of dealers’ sales. This underscores the importance of platforms like Esrac.art.br, which offer an essential channel for independent artists and galleries to reach a global audience.

Auctions

In 2024, the total value of art and antiques sales at auction globally reached US$ 29.8 billion, which represents a 4% decline compared to 2023.

Despite the high concentration at the very top of the market – with sales of ultra-high-value pieces driving much of the financial volume – the report highlights the evolution of online auctions. These channels have democratized access, with 13% of all auction sales occurring exclusively online, attracting a new generation of buyers and diminishing geographical barriers.

The analysis of the global art market of Fine Art public auctions recorded at Artprice and Artron  concerning sales of paintings, sculptures, drawings, photographs, prints, videos, installations, tapestries and NFTs, and excluding results relating to sales of antiques, anonymous cultural goods and furniture, reveals that the total value of global fine art auctions fell by 34% compared to 2023. Despite this slowdown, the trend toward digitalization in art transactions and rapid development of art e-commerce is growing stronger.

The 10 most dynamic countries in the fine art auction market (2024):

• US: 43%.
• China: 20%.
• UK: 16%.
• France: 8%.
• Germany: 4%
• Switzerland: 2%.
• Italy: 2%.
• Austria: 2%.
• Japan: 2%.
• India: 1%.

Pricing: More affordable artworks

According to the Artprice 2024 Report, online sales, alongside a large number of works often offered for less than $5,000 or even under $1,000, have considerably expanded access to art, attracting an ever more diverse audience of art enthusiasts around the world. More than half (50%) of the works sold at auction in 2024 by artprice (nearly 400.000 artworks) found buyers at prices below USD 600 (60% at prices below USD 1000, 70% at prices below USD 1700, 80% at prices below USD 3400 and 90% at prices below USD 9300. Rapid affordable transactions have experienced rapid growth over the past three years, boosted by the online sales.

Pricing	Volume
<USD 5k	77%
USD 5k to USD 50k	19%
USD 50k to USD 250k	3%
USD 250k to USD 1m	1%
> USD 1 m	0,3%

Paintings

Paintings are always at the heart of art auctions. In 2024, nearly 307,000 paintings were auctioned around the world: a record figure, representing 38% of global transactions. Affordable paintings are experiencing unprecedented momentum: sales under $1,000 have tripled in 10 years. In 2024, nearly 250,000 paintings, or 81% of the paintings sold at auction, fetched less than $5,000.

Artists

In 2024, the number of artists increased 6% reaching 188.000 artists. Artists sold for the first time in 2024 represented 12%.

New Buyers

Art fairs were the most frequently chosen channel for new buyers (31%), followed by walk-ins at the gallery (23%), stressing the continued importance of in-person experiences for expanding sales. Referrals from existing clients were important, too, with 16% for new buyers in 2024.

In 2024, dealers reported websites as the main source of new buyer interest, ahead of their social media and online marketplaces.

There has been a big fall in the number of adventurous collectors. The classic collectors are dying out.

There are more and more buyers and consumers with significantly less loyalty to artists and galleries.

• Local private collectors (52%).
• International private collectors (24%).
• Private institutions (5%).
• Local museums (4%).
• Art advisors (4%).
• International museums (3%).
• Interior designers (2%).
• Other professionals (6%).

Artwork Acquisition	Gen Z	Millenials	Gen X	Boomers	Silent Gen
Galleries	40%	51%	65%	71%	56%
Art fairs	24%	34%	22%	12%	7%
Auction	16%	15%	11%	10%	7%
Private	0%	0%	2%	6%	10%
Other	20%	0%	0%	1%	20%

Timing of Art Fair acquisitions

• Before the fair (30 days max): 31%.
• During the fair: 49%.
• After the fair: 20%.

Technology and AI

Artificial intelligence assists in verifying the authenticity of artworks through image recognition, analyses global trading data and artist influence to assess artwork valuations, and predicts market trends.

NFT

Since peaking in 2021, the overall NFT market has been in continuous decline, quarter after quarter. By Q4 of 2024, the market across all NFT assets had more or less returned to the
volume levels observed before the peak in 2020.

The Future of Art

• Innovation: The increasing role of artificial intelligence (AI) in art creation and commercialization, and how immersive technologies (like Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality) might impact the buying experience, are prominent themes.
• Demographics: The entry of younger collectors (Millennials 29-44 years old and Generation Z under 28 years old) into the market, with their distinct preferences and buying habits, is a crucial factor for future evolution.

At Esrac.art.br, we are dedicated to translating these trends into tangible value for our community. Whether you are an artist seeking the best platforms to exhibit your work, a gallerist expanding your digital reach, or a collector looking for your next acquisition, understanding these insights is fundamental.