Contents
- Online art sales statistics: global online art market value and change
- Online art sales statistics: dealer online sales shares and channels
- Online art sales statistics: collector use of online buying channels
- Online art sales statistics: online art buying behavior and barriers
- Online art sales statistics: gallery online sales plans and practices
- Sources
Online art sales statistics: global online art market value and change
Global online art and antiques sales rose sharply during the pandemic period covered by the Art Basel & UBS Art Market Report 2026, then moved lower in the following years. The report places the 2021 peak at $13.3 billion. Sales fell 17% to $11.0 billion in 2022, rose 7% in 2023, and declined 11% to $10.5 billion in 2024. In 2025, the reported value was $9.2 billion. These figures describe online art and antiques sales globally; they do not represent dealer online sales alone. Art Basel & UBS Art Market Report 2026
| Year | Global online art and antiques sales | Reported annual change |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | $13.3 billion | Peak |
| 2022 | $11.0 billion | -17% |
| 2023 | Not reported here | +7% |
| 2024 | $10.5 billion | -11% |
| 2025 | $9.2 billion | Not reported here |
The report also gives a market-share measure: online-only sales made up 15% of total art market sales in 2025. This percentage has a different denominator from the dollar values above. It is the share of the overall art market attributed to online-only sales, rather than the portion of dealer turnover sold online. Art Basel & UBS Art Market Report 2026
The report’s use of “online sales” is specific. It covers online-only transactions reported by galleries, dealers, and auction houses through websites, online viewing rooms, platforms, or email, where the transaction took place without in-person viewing or presale contact. Online-only auction sales exclude online bidding at live auctions. That definition matters when comparing the market estimate with surveys that ask collectors whether they bought through a particular digital channel: a buyer can use online information or bidding while a transaction still falls outside this online-only measure. Art Basel & UBS Art Market Report 2026
Online art sales statistics: dealer online sales shares and channels
For dealers, online sales were 16% of total dealer turnover in 2025. The report separately says dealers’ own websites and digital platforms accounted for 14% of total dealer sales value that year. These measures are close in subject but not interchangeable: the first is the overall online share of turnover, while the second identifies value through dealers’ own websites and digital platforms. Art Basel & UBS Art Market Report 2026
| Dealer sales measure | Year | Share and denominator |
|---|---|---|
| Online sales | 2025 | 16% of total dealer turnover |
| Dealers’ own websites and digital platforms | 2025 | 14% of total dealer sales value |
| Dealers’ own websites and digital channels | 2023 | 20% of total sales value |
| Dealers’ own websites and digital channels | 2019 | 8% of total dealer sales |
The own-website and digital-channel share was reported at 8% in 2019, reached a reported peak of 20% in 2023, and stood at 14% in 2025. This sequence gives context for the current period in the report: the 2025 share was below the 2023 peak but remained above the pre-pandemic 2019 comparator. The figures concern dealer sales through those channels and should not be substituted for the wider global online art and antiques market series. Art Basel & UBS Art Market Report 2026
Digital sales also reached new customers. Dealers reported that 40% of their online sales by value in 2025 went to new buyers. The statistic is about the value of online sales, not the number of transactions or the share of all dealer customers who were new. Art Basel & UBS Art Market Report 2026
Online art sales statistics: collector use of online buying channels
The Art Basel & UBS Survey of Global Collecting 2025 reports several different ways that surveyed high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) engaged with online channels. Among respondents who purchased from a dealer in 2024 or the first half of 2025, 54% had bought through a website or online viewing room without first seeing the work in person. In the same dealer-purchaser group and period, 51% had bought through Instagram without prior in-person viewing. Art Basel & UBS Survey of Global Collecting 2025
Separately, 35% of surveyed HNWIs reported purchasing art through online third-party platforms in 2024 and the first half of 2025. For expenditure, online third-party platforms represented 11% of surveyed HNWIs’ art and antiques spending for that period. The first figure concerns whether respondents used a channel; the second concerns the share of expenditure allocated to it. Art Basel & UBS Survey of Global Collecting 2025
| Collector measure | Population and period | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Bought via website or online viewing room without seeing work in person first | HNWIs who bought from a dealer; 2024 and first half of 2025 | 54% |
| Bought via Instagram without seeing work in person first | HNWIs who bought from a dealer; 2024 and first half of 2025 | 51% |
| Purchased art through online third-party platforms | Surveyed HNWIs; 2024 and first half of 2025 | 35% |
| Expenditure through online third-party platforms | Surveyed HNWIs’ art and antiques expenditure; 2024 and first half of 2025 | 11% |
These results use separate scopes within the collecting survey. The 54% and 51% findings apply to respondents who purchased from a dealer, and specifically describe purchases made without seeing the work in person beforehand. The platform-use result and spending share are broader measures of surveyed HNWIs’ channel behavior. They are not shares of the global market and should not be combined with the dealer turnover percentages as if all measured the same population. Art Basel & UBS Survey of Global Collecting 2025
Online art sales statistics: online art buying behavior and barriers
Artsy’s 2025 collector survey found that 59% of respondents said they purchased art online in 2024. Among the respondents who purchased online, 73% said they bought as much or more art online in 2024 as in 2023. The 73% result describes a subgroup of online buyers and a comparison between those 2 years; it does not mean that 73% of all surveyed collectors increased their online buying. Artsy, Art Market Trends 2025
The same survey points to information and price visibility as reported obstacles. Among respondents who purchased art online in 2024, 48% cited insufficient information about the work as a hindrance, while 43% cited lack of visible price. These are reported barriers among online purchasers, rather than reasons assigned to all collectors or measures of how often a sale was lost. Artsy, Art Market Trends 2025
| Artsy collector survey measure | Population and period | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Purchased art online | Survey respondents; purchases in 2024 | 59% |
| Purchased as much or more online than in the prior year | Respondents who bought online; 2024 compared with 2023 | 73% |
| Cited insufficient information about the work as a hindrance | Respondents who bought online in 2024 | 48% |
| Cited lack of visible price as a hindrance | Respondents who bought online in 2024 | 43% |
The collector results help distinguish access from confidence in a listing. Online purchasing was reported by a majority of Artsy’s surveyed collectors, while purchasers also identified missing work information and hidden prices as barriers. The evidence supports describing those concerns as reported hindrances; it does not establish that either factor caused lower purchasing or quantify the effect on sales. Artsy’s 2025 report draws on an online survey of 1,236 collectors across more than 60 countries, fielded in February–March 2025. Artsy, Art Market Trends 2025
Online art sales statistics: gallery online sales plans and practices
Artsy’s survey of galleries found that about 43% planned to focus more on online sales in the near future. When asked about engagement strategies for 2025, 55% planned to create more online content. Separately, 57% said they were expanding their online presence to address business challenges. These figures capture reported plans and practices from the survey, not completed sales or a measured change in gallery revenue. Artsy, Art Market Trends 2025
Price display practices provide another view of how galleries present works online. Among surveyed galleries, 44% displayed prices online for all available works, while 25% shared prices online only on request. These are distinct reported practices and do not describe every gallery’s approach. Artsy, Art Market Trends 2025
| Gallery survey finding | Result |
|---|---|
| Planned to focus more on online sales in the near future | About 43% |
| Planned to create more online content in 2025 | 55% |
| Said they were expanding their online presence | 57% |
| Displayed prices online for all available works | 44% |
| Shared prices online only on request | 25% |
Artsy’s 2025 report surveyed 384 gallery professionals and dealers as well as 1,236 collectors, with both online surveys fielded in February–March 2025. Its gallery findings therefore describe the respondents to that survey, while the Art Basel and UBS figures above draw on separate market reporting and a separate HNWI collecting survey. Read together, the sources document market value, dealer channel shares, collector-reported use, barriers, and gallery plans, with each measure retaining its own population and definition. Artsy, Art Market Trends 2025