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The global art market returned to growth in 2025 after two years of slumping sales, according to a new study, although experts warned the recovery was threatened by geopolitical volatility.
Worldwide sales of art and antiques edged up 4 per cent to $59.6bn last year, according to the latest Art Basel & UBS Art Market Report that was published on Thursday.
The rise reflected an increase in the number of works sold at auction for more than $10mn in 2025, the report said, as the global economy stabilised and buyer confidence returned.
However, geopolitics was likely to weigh on the art market this year.
The report’s author, Clare McAndrew, the managing director of Arts Economics, said the art market operated in a “volatile geopolitical environment, particularly regarding cross-border trade, the full implications of which are still unfolding in 2026”.
Noah Horowitz, chief executive of Art Basel, wrote in the report: “Markets do not move in isolation. They reflect the ambitions, perspectives, pressures and uncertainties of the world around them.”
Art Basel opened its latest fair in Qatar last month, while rival operator Frieze will launch an Abu Dhabi edition in November.
The report said that President Donald Trump’s tariffs have had a “negative effect on the majority of businesses” and that “significant global uncertainty” persisted despite the Supreme Court ruling striking down one type of levy.
“The market wasn’t rocketing — it was mixed,” said McAndrew. “But sales at the top end went up and that was enough to move things . . . it is hard to tell what happens next.”
Gustav Klimt’s Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer (1914-16) sold for $236mn in November at Sotheby’s, the second-highest price paid at auction for a work of art.
Despite the annual improvement, the total was still 12 per cent below 2022 levels when the market enjoyed a post-Covid boom.
Improved sentiment was evident at this month’s auction season in London, where combined evening sale totals at Sotheby’s and Christie’s were up 70 per cent compared with last year. The top price of the week was for Henry Moore’s towering sculpture, King and Queen (1952-53), which sold for £26.3mn at Christie’s.
The US retained its leading position last year with 44 per cent of the market, with sales up 5 per cent to $26bn. Auction sales of art priced at more than $10mn increased nearly 40 per cent by value year on year, including the Klimt, as well as works by Vincent van Gogh and Frida Kahlo.
In the UK art sales increased by 2 per cent to $10.5bn last year, making it the second-largest market. China followed at an almost-unchanged $8.5bn, although its market share fell slightly.
The global art market’s performance was split between a stronger showing by public auction sales (up 9 per cent) and weaker growth in the commercial gallery sector (up 2 per cent).
The report said there was “considerable pressure” on the gallery sector as buyers per dealer dropped to the lowest number since 2021. There were high-profile closures of galleries last year as the cost of art fairs, which account for a third of dealers’ business, rose 9 per cent.
More than half of dealers (56 per cent) and 80 per cent of mid-tier auction houses reported that Trump’s tariffs had hurt their businesses.
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