57% of Art Collectors Expect the Art Market to Grow

The 2026 edition was the thirteenth survey in the series conducted by Arts Economics in collaboration with global bank UBS. It now covers ten markets and is based on responses from 3,100 high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs). In other words, the survey examined the preferences and experiences of millionaires and billionaires who had purchased art within the previous two years.

Who was surveyed, and why?

According to UBS’s latest revised estimates, there were 57.5 million US dollar millionaires worldwide at the beginning of 2026. In 2025, millionaires accounted for just 1.5% of the world’s adult population but owned almost half (48%) of global wealth.

In 2026, the number of billionaires increased by 13% year on year, reaching 3,428. This was 400 more than in 2025, equivalent to slightly more than one new billionaire per day. Their combined wealth grew even faster, increasing by 25% to $20.1 trillion. The average age of billionaires remained stable at 65, with only 13% under the age of 50.

High-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) represent only a small proportion of all art and antiques enthusiasts and buyers worldwide. However, their importance to the market far exceeds their numerical share, as they account for a disproportionately large share of spending, particularly at the higher end of the market. Their purchasing habits, preferences and broader engagement can therefore significantly influence sales trends and the key factors shaping the market.

Most collectors participating in this year’s HNWI survey (72%) had already inherited artworks. This included 61% of ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs, with more than $50 million in liquid wealth) and nearly 85% of those whose wealth came primarily from family inheritance or marriage.

Individuals with wealth exceeding $50 million allocated an average of 23% of their assets to art. Although this group represents only a tiny proportion of the global population, the finding highlights its disproportionate influence on the art market.

Previous surveys have shown that most collectors consider art a relatively safe and resilient investment compared with financial assets. However, art remains highly illiquid and rarely generates income.

How do people become art collectors?

Family influence was the most significant route into collecting. Some 28% of respondents became interested in art because collecting was part of their family tradition. Cultural exposure, including seeing art in person at museums, galleries, fairs and other venues, was the second most important influence (22%).

Investment interest was the primary initial motivation for 14% of collectors. Only 13% were first introduced to collecting through friends and peers. An equal proportion (13%) discovered collecting independently through online platforms or social media. Just 10% reported that their initial interest in art originated from their work or academic studies.

Paintings were the most common starting point for collecting, with 43% of respondents naming them among their three main interests, followed by antiques (27%) and sculptures (25%).

Where do collectors prefer to buy art?

In the second half of 2025, increased high-end sales through both art dealers and auction houses helped drive up the total value of transactions. This trend continued into the first half of 2026.

The role of galleries is more important than ever. Galleries remain central to the market: nearly nine out of ten collectors purchased artworks through an intermediary during the previous year, many of them at art fairs. The largest share of purchases was also made through intermediaries.

At the same time, the more freely information circulates, the more collectors value what cannot be replicated. Uniqueness and rarity are considered particularly important when owning art.

Most collectors expect the market to grow in the coming months and years, with significantly more planning to expand their collections than to sell artworks.

Some 39% of HNWIs intended to purchase more art over the next 12 months, while 23% planned to sell artworks. This suggests that collections are likely to expand across the surveyed group.

Paintings were the most frequently planned purchases (49%), while antiques (33%) and decorative art (27%) led among other collectible categories.

Regarding market expectations, 57% of respondents anticipated growth through the end of 2026, 58% expected growth over the following 12 months, and 60% over the next ten years.

In 2026, collectors’ main concern was art market transparency, including opaque pricing, undisclosed fees and conflicts of interest. This emerged as the most significant issue.

Why do people buy art?

High-net-worth individuals across all surveyed markets were asked to identify the most important motivation or consideration when purchasing an artwork, choosing from six main factors:

Regarding the final purchasing decision, approximately one-third of respondents made the decision jointly with either a spouse or partner (17%) or other family members (17%).

A further 20% made their final decision after consulting an art dealer, adviser, curator or another expert. However, the largest proportion of collectors (46%) made their final purchasing decision independently.

Collectors placed a high value on uniqueness. The most popular preference, named by 25% of respondents as one of their three main objectives, was owning something unique or one of a kind. This was even more important among younger collectors, reaching 29% for Generation Z.

This suggests that collectors want to distinguish themselves from others, although not necessarily through unusual or risky choices.

The second most popular preference was owning something rare, an object held by only a small number of collectors (24%). This figure was also higher among younger respondents, reaching 28% for Generation Z.

Combining these two preferences, owning something unique or rare was important to 43% of respondents. Among younger collectors, the figure was even higher, reaching 48% for Generation Z.

Only 19% of collectors considered it important to acquire an artwork before other collectors recognised its value, with relatively small differences between generations.

Other popular preferences were more closely associated with social belonging and group identity, or the so-called herd effect. Some 23% valued owning an object highly regarded by industry experts or fellow collectors, while 22% preferred works by artists, creators or brands widely recognised within collecting or cultural circles.

Owning an object that reflected their identity or heritage was a key priority for 22% of collectors.

How much do collectors spend?

In 2025, the latest full year for which spending data was available, survey respondents spent an average of $124,265 on fine art. Some 77% spent less than $50,000.

Within this sample, Generation Z collectors (Zoomers, born between 1997 and 2012) had by far the highest average spending on fine art in 2024, 2025 and the first half of 2026. Their spending was approximately twice as high, or even higher, than that of older collectors.

Although these figures were influenced by a small number of young collectors spending exceptionally large amounts, the median spending of this generation was also consistently at least 50% higher than that of older collectors.

Among respondents who had acquired artworks in 2025–2026, most (76%) had purchased paintings and 60% had purchased sculptures. Other popular categories included works on paper (50%) and prints (47%). Just under half (45%) had purchased a digital artwork, and the same proportion (45%) had acquired photography.

Women’s purchasing participation was higher than men’s across all art categories, and their spending was considerably more diverse. Some of the largest differences appeared in photography, where women’s participation was 16% higher, and in prints and works on paper, where it was 14% higher in both categories.

Only 45% of collectors in the sample reported purchasing a work by an artist they had discovered in 2025–2026, the lowest level in the past five years.

The preference for established names, together with recent sales data, suggests that the current market favours artists with established reputations and that collectors are becoming more cautious about risk.

Younger collectors were more likely to purchase works by artists previously unknown to them. More than half of Generation Z collectors (56%) had done so.

Some 87% of collectors purchased artworks through an intermediary, whether at a gallery, online, through social media or at an art fair.

Offline transactions continued to dominate the market, accounting for 85% of sales by value. High-value purchases remained heavily dependent on personal, relationship-based transactions.

Half of respondents had made purchases at auctions in 2025–2026.

The proportion of collectors purchasing works directly from artists increased by another 6 percentage points to 69%.

The most common way to buy directly from an artist was through the artist’s studio (48%, up 5 percentage points). Some 40% had commissioned an artwork (up 3 percentage points), while 38% had used Instagram (up 3 percentage points).

Almost half of the surveyed collectors (46%) purchased artworks directly from other collectors or private representatives.

Distribution of HNWI spending by sales channel:

Online and social media platforms accounted for a combined 27% of these channels.

Where do collectors get their information?

In 2025, collectors attended an average of 46 art-related events. The projected average for 2026 is 44.

These included, on average, 12 museum visits, 7 gallery visits, 7 art fairs, 6 studio visits and 6 auctions.

Women and Generation Z collectors attended nearly one art-related event per week on average.

How many artworks do collectors own?

The average number of artworks in the collections of survey respondents was 56.

High-net-worth collectors who had been active in the market for no more than two years owned an average of just 27 works. By comparison, those who had been collecting for more than 20 years had considerably larger collections, averaging 119 works.

The 2025 survey revealed a clear shift away from new and emerging artists towards those with established reputations. This reflected market conditions in which the high-end and older art sectors performed better than contemporary art sectors.

A similar trend appeared in 2026, despite changes in the survey sample.

Overall, the artworks in respondents’ collections were distributed as follows:

• 16% new artists – artists who are new to the market and are not yet represented by galleries. This was unchanged from 2025 but lower than in 2024, when the figure was 27%.

• 18% emerging artists – artists whose works have been exhibited in galleries or museums for fewer than ten years. This represented an increase of 1 percentage point compared with 2025 but a decline from 26% in 2024.

• 20% mid-career artists – artists whose works have been exhibited in galleries or museums for more than ten years and who have established reputations but are not yet considered top-tier artists. This represented a slight decline compared with 2025 and 2024.

• 46% established or top-tier artists – artists with strong and reliable secondary markets, through auctions and/or galleries, whose works regularly sell for more than $100,000. This was an increase of 1 percentage point from 2025. The proportion had reached its lowest level of 25% in 2024.

Looking at the gender of artists represented in HNWI collections in 2026, works by male artists continued to dominate across the ten markets: 56% were by men and 44% by women.

How visible are private collections?

When asked who they had allowed to view their collections in person over the past 12 months, 22% reported restricting access.

Of these, 15% allowed only members of their household to view their collections, while 7% shared them exclusively with close friends and family.

A significant proportion of respondents (39%) reported having lent artworks to museums or public institutions at some point.

The highest figures were recorded in the United Kingdom (67%) and the United States (64%), where most collectors had at some stage lent works from their collections.

Across all respondents, only 10% wanted to be widely known as art collectors or owners.

Most (64%) preferred to keep their ownership and collecting activities largely private. Some 25% shared this information only within their household, while 39% disclosed it only to close family and friends.

Just over a quarter (26%) wanted to be recognised within specialised art or collecting communities.

What comes next?

Looking ahead to the next 12 months, 39% of wealthy respondents across all markets planned to purchase more art, a decline of 1 percentage point from the 2025 survey.

Most (31%) intended only to add new acquisitions to their collections, while 8% planned both to buy and sell.

Buyers outnumbered sellers in every region, although the size of the difference varied considerably.

Although most collectors (77%) did not intend to sell artworks from their collections over the following 12 months, some were interested in increasing liquidity through other means, particularly by using artworks as collateral for loans.

Across all markets, 19% of surveyed HNWIs planned to use artworks from their collections as loan collateral. This figure ranged from 10% in Hong Kong to 30% in the United States.

Asked about the art market’s prospects over the following six months, covering the remainder of 2026, 57% expected continued growth, 30% anticipated stability, and only 13% expected a decline.

Optimism was strongest in the United States, where 74% anticipated growth, including 30% who expected significant growth, followed by Brazil (66%) and the United Kingdom (61%).

The full study is available here: theartmarket.artbasel.com