Museum density worldwide by region 2021

According to UNESCO, the current estimated total number of museums worldwide is around 104 thousand. As of March 2021, Western Europe and Canada recorded around 56 such institutions per million inhabitants. Meanwhile, the United States, the country with the highest number of museums worldwide, reported about 101 museums per million population. Overall, there were nearly 14 museums per million inhabitants worldwide as of March 2021.

Number of museums per million inhabitants worldwide as of March 2021, by UNESCO regional classification

Characteristic	Population (millions)	Museums per million inhabitants
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Release date

April 2021

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Region

Worldwide

Survey time period

2021

Supplementary notes

¹ Please find here the list of countries included in this category (page 59).
² Non-member countries as of 2021.
Population figures have been rounded. The source also provides the following figures for the Holy See:
Number of museums: 19. Population (millions): 0.001. Museums per million inhabitants: 19,000.

The source specifies that the estimated number of museums is based on: “the Report on the implementation of the 2015 UNESCO Recommendation on Museums and Collections (figures collected by the OCLC (Online Computer Library Center), based on the Museums of the World directory published by Saur, and figures from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) in Washington, D.C., for American museums). These statistics have been amended from those provided by the 56 Member States for the monitoring of the Recommendation (in 2019), by data provided in the first UNESCO survey of museums and COVID, conducted in April 2020 by 45 UNESCO field offices, and by the present survey of Member States in March 2021”.

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