Art Basel Report | Overview #1

Each year Art Basel and UBS create a tedious report of the art market, reporting sales and stats from the previous year and predictions for the next. In the section “Outlook for 2024,” Dr. Clare McAndrew sees a positive uptick in economic growth. 

During 2024, 54% of High Net Worth collectors, or HNW collectors, are estimated to purchase new works. While only 26% of HNW collectors are planning on selling their current works, a lower rate compared to previous years, collectors are holding onto their collections believing that the artist’s prices will only grow in the coming years and grow their investments. 

By country, the top buyers rank Mainland China at the top with 68% HNW collectors planning to buy, next to Italy at 62%, and the U.S. at 58%. The top sellers rank Taiwan at the top with 37% of HNW collectors planning to sell, next to Singapore at 32%, and the U.S. at 31%.

Perhaps unexpectedly, with the economic hardships of the years after COVID-19 as well as international conflicts and high inflation rates, there is more hope in the art market than the stock market. Art Basel reports that 77% of HNW collectors are optimistic about the art market’s performance in the following months. For full transparency, it is only by 3% that collectors are more optimistic about the art market than the stock market.

Despite a rapidly growing movement of contemporary artists creating works of various new and traditional folk mediums, paintings are still overwhelmingly sought out for the year 2024 by 84% of planned purchases, with sculptures and works on paper following secondary.