Global Art Market Revenue Totaled $67.8 Billion in 2022

The Art Market 2023 report, recently released by Art Basel and global financial investment company UBS, noted that global art market revenue totaled USD 67.8 billion in 2022. This is a 3% increase from the previous year ($65.9 billion). Despite the fact that the art market entered a period of adjustment due to inflationary pressures in the second half of last year, it maintained growth. The figure did fall short of the record high of $68.2 billion in 2014.

Art dealers led the growth of the global art market last year. In particular, sales by Asian art dealers increased 26% from the previous year amid remarkable growth in the Asian art market. However, sales in the global auction market decreased by 2%.

The report analyzed that the increase of global art market revenues in 2022 was led by the growth of digital art such as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and high-end art transactions. The report added that the proportion of digital, film, and video art transactions increased from 1% in 2021 to 5% in 2022, and that wealthy collectors spent more money on art purchases than before the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“The art market as a whole expanded, despite the volatility in the wider economy,” said Noah Horowitz, CEO of Art Basel. “However, while the larger dealer segments grew, small dealers and many parts of the auction market contracted.”

The art dealer segment, which led to the growth of the art market in 2022, recorded $37.2 billion in sales, up 7% from the previous year. This was due to the resumption of super-large art fairs, including overseas travel that has increased gradually after COVID-19 lockdowns. In particular, with the Asian art dealer market growing 26%, sales by Korean art dealers soared 40%. The report analyzed, “It was largely due to the simultaneous hosting of Frieze Seoul and KIAF (Korea International Art Fair).” Japanese art dealer revenues increased by 28%.

On the other hand, the auction market received a poor report card. In 2022, the global auction market fell 1% year-on-year to $26.8 billion in sales. The figure is 11% higher than in 2019, before the pandemic, but the auction market is clearly polarized. The market for ultra-high-priced works worth more than $10 million was the only category to grow, recording 12%. Works worth more than $10 million accounted for 32% of total auction sales, up from 28% the previous year.

In both the art dealer and auction segments, only high-priced works were actively traded, making polarization clear. “After a strong recovery in sales of 31% in 2021 from the pandemic-induced low point the previous year, results were more mixed in 2022, with variations in performance by sector, region, and price segments resulting in more muted growth,” the report said.

There have been some changes in regional markets. The United States maintained its top position in the global art market with 45%, up 2%, while China and the United Kingdom changed positions. The UK moved up from third place to second place with 18% market share, while China fell to third place (17%). The fall in the Chinese market was due to the cancellation of sales and events under the country’s COVID-19 lockdown policy, especially the biggest contraction in the auction market, falling 22% year-on-year to $6.9 billion. France was the world’s fourth-largest market with a 7% share. Korea was counted for the first time and recorded a 1% share.

The online market, which showed explosive growth due to the pandemic, was tallied at $11 billion, down 17% from 2021 ($13.3 billion), when it peaked. The decline in sales is due to the weakening of the pandemic’s influence, which has led to the transition of exhibitions, auctions, and art fairs to offline. The proportion of online art sales was 16% of the total art market, down significantly from 2020 (25%). Art NFT sales also plunged 49% year-on-year to $1.5 billion in 2022. This is because the cryptocurrency market has entered an ice age.

Meanwhile, the report analyzes the global art market every year since its first issue in 2018. It is based on data collected and analyzed by art dealers, auction houses, collectors, art fairs, and art and financial databases by Art Economics, an art economy-related consulting and research organization.