The Art Basel and UBS Survey of Global Collecting 2024 reveals insights into the behaviors of high-net-worth individuals across 14 markets worldwide in 2023 and the first half of 2024.

The survey showed continued spending on art and antiques by high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) despite a challenging market.

• Authored by Dr. Clare McAndrew, founder of Arts Economics, The Art Basel and UBS Survey of Global Collecting 2024 analyzes the buying behaviors of HNWIs in 14 major markets during 2023 and the first half of 2024. The survey, conducted by Arts Economics in collaboration with UBS, examines insights into spending, event attendance, motivations for collecting and the interactions of HNWIs with artists, galleries, and institutions. This 2024 survey, the largest of its kind to date, gathered responses from over 3,660 HNWIs in Brazil, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mainland China, Mexico, Singapore, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
• This year’s survey also examines the transfer of wealth between generations of HNWIs looking in detail at how inherited works of art are being incorporated into current collections, as well as how collectors are preparing to both inherit and gift works of art in future.
• The HNWI survey indicates that while average expenditure dropped by 32% in 2023, median levels were more stable, falling marginally from $50,165 in 2022 to $50,000 in 2023. This suggests that the majority of the decline was due to reduced spending at the higher end of the market. Median spending showed signs of stabilizing in the first half of 2024 (at $25,555) and 91% of HNWIs surveyed were optimistic about the global art market’s performance in the next six months, up from 77% at the end of 2023.
• Research into the content of HNWI collections showed that the share of works by female artists reached a seven-year high with a ratio of 44% versus male artists’ works. HNWIs also allocated 52% of their expenditure to works by new and emerging artists, with 21% on mid-career, and 26% on those by established artists (the majority of which were living artists), highlighting their support for living talent.
• The report revealed that HNWIs showed a strong willingness to work with new galleries, with 88% purchasing from at least one new dealer over the last year and buying from an average of 17 galleries in 2024, up from 13 in 2019. Additionally, 70% of the galleries they purchased from were based within their local region, compared to 50% in 2022.

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