Contents
- Art supplies retail sales statistics: U.S. and Canadian market size and growth
- Art supplies retail sales statistics: Specialty retailer revenue and sales growth
- Art supplies retail sales statistics: Retail channels and where artists shop
- Art supplies retail sales statistics: Sales mix across paint, drawing, and paper categories
- Art supplies retail sales: Artist spending across professional, student, and recreational segments
- Art supplies retail sales: Middle East and Africa hobby, craft, and art supplies revenue
- Sources
Art supplies retail sales statistics: U.S. and Canadian market size and growth
A 2015 industry study estimated U.S. art-supplies sales at $1.493 billion for 2014. The summary page rounded that figure to $1.5 billion. Framing is excluded, and the report gives the market-size estimate an approximate accuracy of ±20%. The figure is historical; it should be read as an estimate for 2014 rather than a current market total. (NAMTA, pp. 3, 18)
| Market measure | Period | Reported value | Scope and basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. art-supplies sales | 2014 | $1.493 billion | Excludes framing; approximate accuracy ±20% |
| Canadian art-supplies sales | 2014 estimate | $260 million | Excludes framing; approximate accuracy ±20% |
| U.S. industry growth inputs | 2012, 2013, 2014 | 3%, 5%, 6% | Inputs used to derive the 2014 U.S. estimate |
The U.S. estimate used reported industry growth inputs of 3% for 2012, 5% for 2013, and 6% for 2014, applied to an earlier market total. Those percentages explain the report’s estimate method; they are not a separate recent growth series. (NAMTA, p. 18)
The Canadian figure has a less direct basis. The report started from a 2012 estimate of $225 million and applied the same three annual growth rates used for the U.S. calculation because major Canadian retailers and suppliers did not provide growth data. The $260 million figure is therefore a derived estimate, not a total assembled from comparable Canada-specific growth reports. (NAMTA, p. 18)
Both market estimates exclude framing, but their stated accuracy and estimation basis constrain comparisons. They describe art supplies as defined by the study, rather than all craft purchases, the broader creative economy, or artist spending that includes framing services. (NAMTA, pp. 3, 18)
Art supplies retail sales statistics: Specialty retailer revenue and sales growth
Surveyed U.S. art-materials retailers reported median gross sales of $450,000 in 2009, $550,000 in 2012, and $800,000 in the 2015 survey. The table includes multistore and online retailers as well as storefront businesses. Sales generally refer to the prior calendar year, and 108 U.S. retailers answered the gross-sales question. These medians describe respondents, not total industry revenue. (NAMTA, p. 5)
| Survey year | Median gross sales among U.S. retailers | Respondents to gross-sales question |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | $450,000 | 108 |
| 2012 | $550,000 | 108 |
| 2015 | $800,000 | 108 |
The distribution shows a wide spread. In the 2015 table covering all retailers, 10% reported gross sales of $100,000 or less, while 47% reported more than $1,000,000. A separate storefront-only table excluded online sales: 27% of those storefronts were in the $1,000,001–$2,000,000 range, and 8% reported more than $2,000,000. These are distinct tables and respondent groupings. (NAMTA, p. 5)
The storefront-only median was $583,333 in the 2015 survey. In Canada, median gross sales were C$650,000 per retailer, based on 21 retailers. The Canadian figure is denominated in Canadian dollars and comes from a different respondent group, so it is not directly interchangeable with the U.S. figures. (NAMTA, p. 5)
The report estimated that about 19% of U.S. art-materials retailers operating in 2012 had gone out of business by 2015. It also reported that the share of surveyed U.S. retailers with sales of $500,000 or less declined from 50% in 2012 to 41% in 2015. These observations describe business continuity and reported sales ranges; the figures do not establish why businesses closed or why sales levels changed. (NAMTA, p. 5)
Among 85 U.S. art-materials retailers, median reported growth was 2% in 2012, 2% in 2013, and 4% in 2014. This respondent-based series differs from the 3%, 5%, and 6% growth inputs used to estimate the overall U.S. market. (NAMTA, pp. 18–19)
Art supplies retail sales statistics: Retail channels and where artists shop
The report estimated the shares of U.S. art-supplies sales associated with several retail channels in 2012 and 2015. Art-materials stores were estimated at 37% in 2012 and 34% in 2015; crafts-chain stores at 34% and 35%. Online art-materials stores were 13% and 14%, while online general retailers were 4% and 7%. The estimates exclude framing and are approximate to ±10%. (NAMTA, p. 3)
| Estimated U.S. retail channel | 2012 | 2015 |
|---|---|---|
| Art-materials stores | 37% | 34% |
| Crafts-chain stores | 34% | 35% |
| Online art-materials stores | 13% | 14% |
| Online general retailers | 4% | 7% |
These are estimated shares of market sales by channel; they do not represent the proportion of artists who ever purchased through each channel. The distinction between online specialist art-materials stores and general retailers is part of the source’s classification. (NAMTA, p. 3)
For Canada, the study offers rough 2015 channel-share estimates: art-materials stores 58%, related retailers 22%, online art-materials stores 8%, crafts chains 7%, and other retailers 5%. The source labels these as rough estimates, so they should not be read as precise market measurements. (NAMTA, p. 3)
Artist survey responses provide a different view of shopping. The report’s 2015 survey of 2014 spending attributed 35% of surveyed U.S. artists’ reported channel spending to art-supplies stores. The report cautions that online-only recruitment and promotion through art-supplies stores affected the measure. It represents respondents’ reported spending allocation, not a market-wide channel share. (NAMTA, p. 11)
The survey also asked whether respondents had shopped at art-supplies stores. For 2014, 82% of U.S. professional artists, 91% of students, and 81% of recreational artists said they had. These participation rates show whether respondents used that store type, not how much they spent there. (NAMTA, p. 9)
Art supplies retail sales statistics: Sales mix across paint, drawing, and paper categories
U.S. art-materials retailers operating mainly through storefronts derived 82% of their total sales revenue from art supplies in 2015. Within art-supplies revenue, drawing materials and canvas products each made up 12.4%; oil paints were 12.2%; acrylic paints 11.5%; pads and paper 11.2%; brushes 9.0%; watercolors 8.3%; and sculpting, polymer clay, and ceramics 2.1%. Product-segment data came from 40 businesses. (NAMTA, p. 7)
| Product category | Share of surveyed storefront retailers’ art-supplies revenue, 2015 |
|---|---|
| Drawing materials (pencils, pastels, pens, markers, ink) | 12.4% |
| Canvas products | 12.4% |
| Oil paints | 12.2% |
| Acrylic paints | 11.5% |
| Pads and paper | 11.2% |
| Brushes | 9.0% |
| Watercolors | 8.3% |
| Sculpting, polymer clay, ceramics | 2.1% |
Among these listed categories, drawing materials and canvas had the largest shares, followed closely by oil and acrylic paints. The table contains selected categories rather than a complete breakdown, so the listed percentages should not be summed as the full art-supplies revenue mix. (NAMTA, p. 7)
The measures also have different denominators: 82% is art supplies’ share of retailers’ overall revenue, while each product percentage is that category’s share within art-supplies revenue. The findings describe surveyed U.S. storefront retailers that supplied product information, not every retailer in the country. (NAMTA, p. 7)
Art supplies retail sales: Artist spending across professional, student, and recreational segments
In the U.S. artist survey covering 2014, median art-supplies spending was $1,470 for professional artists, $363 for students, and $745 for recreational artists. These are medians for surveyed active artists, not population-wide averages. Professionals derived 50% or more of household income from selling their own artworks. Students were under 30 and had taken a semester-long art course during the previous 12 months. Recreational artists were neither professionals nor students. (NAMTA, p. 9)
| U.S. artist segment | Median art-supplies spending, 2014 | Share who shopped at art-supplies stores |
|---|---|---|
| Professional | $1,470 | 82% |
| Student | $363 | 91% |
| Recreational | $745 | 81% |
The study’s historical median spending per U.S. artist was $848 in 2008, $700 in 2011, and $750 in 2014. It reports a lower median in 2011 than in 2008 and a higher figure in 2014; it does not provide annual values for the intervening years. The report notes the 2008 value came just before the recession, but the timing alone does not explain the changes. (NAMTA, p. 10)
Artist spending by product category uses a different denominator from retailer sales mix. In the U.S. survey column, paints represented 22% of artists’ total reported spending and framing supplies and services represented 20%. Framing remains in that total-spending denominator; the report recommends removing framing when using artist expenditures to approximate the fine-art-supplies market. For Canadian artists, drawing materials accounted for 7% and paper, pads, and blank books for 18% of reported total spending. (NAMTA, p. 11)
The December 2014 online survey included 5,136 U.S. artists and 879 Canadian artists. Those counts give context for the reported responses; they do not make the survey a census of purchases. Segment medians describe spending midpoints, store-shopping rates describe participation, and product percentages describe the allocation of reported outlays. The report’s recruitment and promotion caveat applies to artist channel responses. (NAMTA, pp. 9, 11)
Art supplies retail sales: Middle East and Africa hobby, craft, and art supplies revenue
A regional market overview charts Middle East and Africa revenue for the combined hobby, craft, and art-supplies market, in millions of U.S. dollars. The chart marks 2024 as an estimate at $719.9 million, then labels the following values as forecasts through 2030. This is a broader product group than art supplies alone, and the chart does not identify the series as a retail-only total. (Messe Frankfurt Middle East / 6Wresearch, p. 5)
| Year | Market revenue (US$ million) | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 719.9 | Estimate |
| 2025 | 749.4 | Forecast |
| 2026 | 781.1 | Forecast |
| 2027 | 815.0 | Forecast |
| 2028 | 853.3 | Forecast |
| 2029 | 892.4 | Forecast |
| 2030 | 934.3 | Forecast |
The forecast sequence rises from $749.4 million for 2025 to $934.3 million for 2030. These are forecast values, not recorded results. The 2024 estimate and later forecasts all concern the combined regional market; none should be described as art-supplies-only sales. (6Wresearch, p. 5)
The North American estimates and the Middle East and Africa series have different geographies, product boundaries, and methods. NAMTA’s U.S. and Canadian totals cover art supplies excluding framing, while the regional chart combines hobby, craft, and art supplies. They serve as separate historical and forecast references, not directly comparable market-size rankings. (NAMTA, pp. 3, 18; 6Wresearch, p. 5)