Women and Gen Z Are Rewriting the Art Collecting Playbook

Summary

• Art Basel & UBS release the 2025 Survey of Global Collecting revealing that women collectors are outspending their male counterparts by 46%
• Additional insights include the prominent presence of high-spending Gen Z collectors in fine arts and collectibles and luxury sectors
• Digital art also saw a sharp uptick, nearly tied with sculpture as third for overall spending

The 2025 Art Basel & UBS Survey of Global Collecting makes one thing clear: the Great Wealth Transfer is here. Gathering insights from 3,100 high-net-worth collectors across 10 global markets — 76% identifying as Gen Z or Millennials — the report puts numbers behind the future of collecting, with women and young collectors leading the charge.

Alongside a generational shift, the survey saw an ongoing market feminization with women emerging as some of the most powerful players in today’s art economy. On average, high-net-worth women spent 46% more fine art, antiques and collectibles than men. Gen Z and millennial women outspent men across almost every category.

They’re also driving an appetite for art’s new and emerging vanguard: 55% of women collectors noted buying works by unknown artists, along with a greater interest in photography and digital art over traditional mediums, like painting and sculpture.

“Female collectors are clear-eyed about risk and often more attuned to it – but, despite this, they are more likely to act and take chances when it comes to their collecting,” says economist Dr. Clare McAndrew, the author of the report. “You could say they feel the fear and do it anyway.”

More generally, a new class of Gen Z “omnivore collectors,” as described by Art Basel, is on the rise, devoting an average of 26% of their wealth into their portfolios, the highest share of any age demographic. They’re among the most active buyers, not only in fine art, but also in collectibles and luxury goods, spending nearly five times more than their generational counterparts on items like handbags and sneakers.

While painting still reigns as the most-collected medium overall, digital art saw the sharpest increase in spending. More than half of surveyed collectors acquired digital works in 2024-2025, pushing the category to third in total spending, nearly tied with sculpture.

Capturing an art market in-flux, the 2025 report not only reconsiders what we deem high-brow “taste” to be, but redraws the very map of cultural capital. But more than the what, the why behind collecting is where it gets exciting, with a narrative-driven model dominating the traditional worth-motivated approach; for most, it’s less about investment alone, and more a means of identity, connection, personal pleasure and cultural expression.