Global online sales of the art and antiques market 2013-2021

Total online sales in the art and antiques market worldwide rose by seven percent in 2021 over the previous year, after skyrocketing in 2020. Overall, the value of online transactions in the global art and antiques market amounted to 13.3 billion U.S. dollars in 2021, increasing by roughly 900 million U.S. dollars from 2020.

A turning point for the online art market

2020 was undoubtedly a turning point for the online art market, with auction houses, art dealers, and fairs boosting their digital presence as a response to canceled in-person events and sales due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The positive trend in online sales then continued in 2021, driven by the interest in non-fungible tokens (NFT) and the so-called crypto art. NFTs hit the news when, in March 2021, a digital collage by American artist Beeple fetched 69.3 million U.S. dollars at a Christie's auction, becoming the most expensive NFT project sold worldwide to date.

Global art sales during the COVID-19 pandemic

While sales in the global art market dropped substantially in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, they bounced back in 2021, totaling 65.1 billion U.S. dollars and surpassing the value recorded in 2019. Meanwhile, the volume of transactions in the art market worldwide experienced an annual 17 percent increase in 2021, but it stayed below pre-pandemic levels.