Art Basel and UBS Report: Global Art Market Returns to Growth in 2025, Reaching $59.6 Billion
After two years of contraction, the global art trade found its footing again in 2025 — but the recovery came with a familiar caveat: the biggest gains accrued at the very top.
According to the Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report, worldwide art sales rose 4% year over year to an estimated $59.6 billion in 2025. The figure marks a return to modest growth, though it remains well below the market’s 2022 peak of $67.8 billion.
Claire McAndrew, the report’s author and founder of Arts Economics, characterized 2025 as a directional shift after the pullback of recent years, while warning that geopolitical tensions and uncertainty around trade policy continue to pose risks for international transactions.
Auctions rebound on trophy consignments
Public auctions were a central driver of the market’s improvement. Auction sales increased 9% to $20.7 billion in 2025, a rise the report attributes to high-value consignments.
The data underscores how concentrated auction value has become. Works priced under $50,000 accounted for 95% of auction transactions, yet both value and volume in that segment fell 2% in 2025. By contrast, works selling for more than $1 million represented less than 1% of lots but generated 54% of total auction value. At the very top end, sales of works priced above $10 million rose 30% in value.
The report points to major private collections, particularly those featured in the November New York sales, as a key source of the year’s headline results.
By category, Postwar art remained the largest segment at auction, representing 31% of sales value, followed by Modern art at 24%. The sharpest year-over-year growth, however, came from Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works, which surged 47%.
A long squeeze on the middle market
Beyond the marquee lots, the report highlights a longer-term erosion in the market’s middle tiers. Sales of works priced between $50,000 and $250,000 have fallen 29% since 2010, a trend that suggests sustained pressure on the segment that often supports emerging and mid-career artists, as well as many small and mid-size galleries.
Dealer sales rise, but profitability tightens
Dealers also returned to growth, though at a slower pace. Dealer sales increased 2% to $34.8 billion in 2025 after two years of declines. Results were mixed across the sector: 42% of dealers reported higher sales, 33% reported declines, and 25% said sales were stable.
Smaller dealers posted some of the strongest gains, while the middle market remained comparatively sluggish.
Even where revenue improved, costs continued to bite. Dealer operating expenses — including shipping, art fairs, travel, and logistics — rose an estimated 5% on average in 2025, outpacing overall sales growth. The report finds that 38% of dealers experienced declining profitability.
The U.S. holds the lead as regional results diverge
Regionally, the United States remained the world’s largest art market, with sales of $26 billion in 2025. The United Kingdom followed at $10.5 billion, with China at $8.5 billion.
France delivered one of the strongest performances among major markets, rising 9% to $4.5 billion, while results across the rest of Europe were mixed.
Despite shifting conditions, the report emphasizes how concentrated the global trade remains: the United States, the United Kingdom, and China together accounted for 76% of worldwide art sales in 2025.
Taken as a whole, the 2025 figures suggest a market that is stabilizing — but doing so unevenly, with auction momentum concentrated in trophy works and dealers navigating a cost environment that can quickly erase modest gains.
