Number of State museum visitors in Italy 2019-2020, by region

Lazio was the Italian region recording the highest number of museum visitors in Italy, although the attendance dropped sharply in 2020 over the previous year, due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Whereas museums and similar cultural institutions in this region welcomed roughly 25.6 million visitors in 2019, this figure decreased to approximately 4.9 million in 2020. In both 2019 and 2020, Campania and Tuscany placed second and third in the ranking.

Most visited museums in Italy

A similar scenario was found in the list of the most visited museums in Italy in 2020. The Uffizi Galleries in Florence, Tuscany, topped the list in this case, while the Colosseum in Rome (Lazio), and the archaeological site of Pompeii in Campania followed behind. Overall, all the most popular museums in Italy experienced a dramatic decrease in attendance, due to the pandemic.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the income of museums

Since the number of COVID-19 infections in Italy escalated in March 2020, the Italian government imposed a national lockdown until May. During this period, museums and similar cultural institutions had to remain close. As a result, the income of State museums in Italy fell sharply in March 2020, reaching 1.2 million euros, whereas it amounted to nearly 14 million euros in March 2019. Overall, the Colosseum, which topped the list of the Italian tourist attractions with the highest income, recorded earnings of 8.8 million euros in 2020, while its income amounted to roughly 57.6 million euros in 2019.