Visitor Numbers To Major Art Museums Collapsed In 2020

New data published by The Art Newspaper shows that the Covid-19 pandemic has proven disastrous for major museums and art galleries. 280 major institutions were closed for a collective 41,000 days in total which saw them miss out on a huge number of visits. Lockdowns in response to Covid-19 sent visitor numbers tumbling by a staggering 77 percent and a recovery will likely take years.

This infographic highlights the decline in visitor numbers to the ten most visited museums and art galleries on the planet. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York was closed for just over 200 days and it experienced an 83 percent contraction in visitor numbers. The Vatican Museums were also shuttered due to the pandemic and their visitor numbers also experienced a decline of more than 80 percent. The Musée du Louvre in Paris was also among the institutions badly impacted and it saw a 72 percent fall in its visitor numbes between 2019 and 2020.