The global art market will grow 3% in 2022, according to the annual Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report. Last year, art sales totaled $67.8 billion, surpassing the pre-pandemic 2019 figure ($64.4 billion) and coming close to the 2014 record level ($68.2 billion).
Sales in open trades fell 1% to $26.8 billion, including due to the cancellation of a number of auctions in China. In the dealer business, the figure rose 7% to $37.2 billion, thanks in particular to fairs, whose share of sales rose to 35% from 27% a year earlier.
Once again, the U.S. led the way in regional sales (45%), followed by the U.K. (18%) and China (17%).
MarketWatch’s Claire McAndrew pointed to “a big positive factor in the U.S. and a big negative factor in China,” which generally offset each other. The U.S. art market is recovering from a significant decline during the pandemic coronavirus and in 2022 renewed its high, increasing by 8% – to $ 30.2 billion.
