$59.6 billion
Estimated global art-market sales in 2025
The market grew 4% from 2024, according to the annual Art Basel and UBS report.
Source: Art Basel and UBS, The Art Market 2026Reference Guide
Art, Antiques & Auction Market Statistics
A dated, source-linked snapshot of the wider market in which antiques and collectible objects trade. Built for collectors, writers, dealers, and anyone who wants figures they can check.
Last updated September 1, 2026. Figures below report 2025 market activity unless noted otherwise.
The Wider Market
Useful context for people who buy, sell, and write about older objects.
Antiques and collectibles move through dealers, online marketplaces, estate sales, galleries, and auction houses. This page focuses on the broader art and auction market because it offers current, published measures for the channels that shape availability, collecting behavior, and public attention. Every figure links to its original source.
2025 Market Figures
Nine statistics worth knowing.
41.5 million
Art-market transactions in 2025
Transaction volume rose 2% year over year, showing that activity stayed broad even as the market changed shape.
Source: Art Basel and UBS, The Art Market 2026$26.0 billion
United States art-market sales in 2025
U.S. sales increased 5% after two years of decline.
Source: Art Basel and UBS, The Art Market 202676%
Share of global sales in the U.S., U.K., and China
Those three markets accounted for just over three quarters of worldwide sales in 2025.
Source: Art Basel and UBS, The Art Market 2026$9.2 billion
Online art-market sales in 2025
Online sales remained a significant route to market for collectors buying beyond their local area.
Source: Art Basel and UBS, The Art Market 2026$24.8 billion
Combined public and private auction sales in 2025
Auction sales rose 6% in value from 2024.
Source: Art Basel and UBS, The Art Market 202620%
Increase in U.S. public-auction sales in 2025
U.S. public-auction sales rose to just over $7 billion, supported by high-value lots sold in New York.
Source: Art Basel and UBS, The Art Market 202630%
Increase in auction sales above $10 million
The report found growth at the very top of the auction market, while sales below $50,000 fell 2%.
Source: Art Basel and UBS, The Art Market 202643%
Dealers expecting sales to improve in 2026
That outlook was 10 percentage points higher than the prior year in the surveyed dealer market.
Source: Art Basel and UBS, The Art Market 2026How to Read It
Market context is not an appraisal.
Large market figures can describe the health of a trade, but they do not set the value of one chair, ring, painting, or piece of silver. The details that matter to an individual object are still its maker, age, condition, rarity, provenance, and current demand.
For collectors, the figures are most useful as a reason to look closer. The market may be global, but a good find is still specific. Materials, design, condition, and history are what make an object worth keeping.
Sources & Method
Where these figures come from.
All nine figures on this page are drawn from The Art Basel and UBS Art Market Report 2026, published with research by Arts Economics. The report presents estimates and survey findings for the global art market in 2025, including dealers, auction houses, and online sales.
To keep the page easy to verify, every statistic uses the report's stated figure and links to the relevant report section. This reference will be reviewed when a new report is published or when a cited source changes.
Cite this page
Snell's Antiques. “Art, Antiques & Auction Market Statistics.” Updated September 1, 2026. https://snellsantiquesstore.com/antiques-market-statistics
Keep Looking
Statistics are a starting point. The object is the story.
Explore current antiques and vintage furniture selected for their design, material, and character.