The Art Basel and UBS Art Market Report 2025: the summary

A few days ago, the 266-page report of “The Art Basel and UBS Art Market Report 2025” was published, a document dense with market data and analysis of sales trends of 2023 and 2024 to try to anticipate what might happen in the rest of 2025.

In the following summary we have therefore focused on what is selling, who is buying, and where the market is concentrated.

The Art Basel and UBS Art Market Report 2025

In 2024, the global art market recorded a decline of 12%, bringing the overall value of sales to 57.5 billion dollars. This downturn represents the second consecutive year of decrease, following a strong post-pandemic recovery in 2021-2022. The slowdown was primarily driven by the weakness of the high-end segment, meaning works valued over 10 million dollars.

However, the number of transactions increased by 3%, reaching 40.5 million, indicating that the lower price ranges continue to show dynamism and attractiveness.

Main Market Trends in 2024

1. Top-tier sales decrease, activity in lower segments increases

• The works sold for over 10 million dollars have decreased by 39%, representing only 18% of the total market value, compared to 23% in 2023 and 33% in 2022.
• The most robust segment is the one between 1 and 10 million dollars, which accounted for 30% of the total value.
• The segment under 50,000 dollars has grown to 17% of the total value, a sharp increase compared to 10% in 2022.
• The segments under 5,000 dollars accounted for the highest number of transactions, even though only 4% of the overall value.

2. Domain of the paintings

• The dipinti accounted for the majority of sales across all price segments: 96% of sales above 10 million, 88% of sales over 1 million, and 43% in the segment below 50,000 dollars.
• The sculture follow, while the fotografie e stampe grow in the low-cost segment (14% of the value under 50,000 dollars).
• The digital art is marginal: less than 1% of the overall value and volume, with prices predominantly between 5,000 and 50,000 dollars.

The Auction Sales

Total

• Total sales (public and private) of auction houses reached 23.4 billion dollars, with a decrease of 20% compared to 2023.
• Of these, 19 miliardi come from public auctions (-25%) and 4,4 miliardi from private sales (+14%).

Public auctions: main markets

• The three main markets are United States (31%), China (25%), and United Kingdom (14%), with a combined share of 70% of sales.
• The United States dominated the segment over 10 million with 73% of sales, and seven of the ten most expensive works sold in New York.

Top sales of 2024

• René Magritte, The Empire of Lights (1954) – $121 million – Christie’s NY (personal record).
• Ed Ruscha, Standard Station… – $68.3 million – Christie’s NY (record).
• Claude Monet, Nymphéas – $65.5 million – Sotheby’s.
• Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled (ELMAR) – $46.5 million – Phillips.
• Andy Warhol, Flowers – $35.5 million – Christie’s.

Price Segmentation at Auctions

• Only 0.1% of the works sold exceeded 1 million dollars, but they represented 49% of the total value.
• The larger volume (95%) concerned works under 50,000 dollars.

The Dealer Sector

General trend

• The aggregate sales of the dealers fell by 6%, to 34.1 billion dollars, marking the second consecutive year of decline.
• The decline is concentrated in the higher brackets: dealers with a turnover over 10 million have recorded the most significant losses.
• Dealers with sales under 500,000 dollars represented 53% of the sample, while only 7% exceeded 10 million.

Type of acquirers

• 76% of the sales were made to private collectors, with an increase in international buyers.
• Sales to museums and private institutions remained stable at 9% and 5% respectively.
• The new buyers represented 28% of sales in the high-end segment, down from 36% in 2021.

Sales channels

• Online sales accounted for 22% of the total (down by 1%), but with 46% of new buyers involved, compared to 35% in 2023.
• The dominant channel in online sales was the dealer’s site (17% of the total), followed by social media and OVR.

Art Fairs and Hybrid Sales

• The fiere d’arte remain important, but their weight has shifted in favor of more direct and digital sales.
• Dealers increasingly combine hybrid strategies: presence at the fair + online marketing + private negotiations.
• The pressure of participation costs has led many dealers to reassess their physical presence and to focus on fairs with a more immediate return.

Challenges and Opportunities in 2025

The main challenges for dealers and auction houses:

1. Economic and political volatility
2. Finding new buyers and sellers
3. Maintain relationships with historical clients
4. Increasing competition (especially online)
5. Costs of participation in fairs and operations.

What is Selling

Strongest segments in 2024:

• Traditional paintings, especially of modern and post-war art.
• Established blue-chip artists, especially outside the contemporary.
• Photographs and prints in the < $50,000 segment.
• Basquiat, Magritte, Warhol, Ruscha: artists with solid results even in a more bull market.

Segments in difficoltà:

• Ultra-high-end contemporary art (over $10 million): fewer works, fewer buyers.
• Digital art: low incidence (<1%) and average price contained.

Conclusions drawn from the report by Art Basel and UBS

The 2024 was a year of transition for the art market, marked by:

• A contraction in value, but expansion in the number of transactions.
• An evident polarization between high-end in crisis and low-mid segment in growth.
• A greater centrality of digital channels, especially for dealers and new generations of collectors.
• A new geography of collecting, less dependent on China and more centered on the USA and UK.

The year 2025 thus opens with an art market that, although less spectacular in large numbers, appears more widespread, accessible, and potentially resilient.

Amelia Tomasicchio

As expert in digital marketing, Amelia began working in the fintech sector in 2014 after writing her thesis on Bitcoin technology. Previously author for several international crypto-related magazines and CMO at Eidoo. She is now the co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Cryptonomist and Econique.

She is also a marketing teacher at Digital Coach in Milan and she published a book about NFTs for the Italian publishing house Mondadori, while she is also helping artists and company to entering in the sector. As advisor, Amelia is also involved in metaverse-related project such as The Nemesis and OVER.