The art market grew slightly in 2022 compared to 2021, despite an uncertain economic context and with the return of war in Europe, to reach 67.8 billion dollars, reveals Tuesday the annual report Art Basel/UBS.

During this period, global art sales increased by 3% and surpassed their pre-pandemic level in 2019, which had severely disrupted the market like the rest of the global economy.

'A year of divergence'

"The year 2022 can be described as a year of divergence," the report notes. Market growth has come from the high-end while in mainland China and Hong Kong sales have declined due to very strict strategies to fight Covid-19.

On the other hand, "the US market has recovered strongly, once again securing its first place" in the global art market, the report says. Despite the uncertainties, "collectors have remained attached to the market, according to the study, for whom "this cautious growth in the face of deep uncertainty testifies to the strength of the post-pandemic art market and gives reasons to believe in its resilience".

The success of NFTs

Noah Horowitz, managing director of Art Basel, notes that on the digital art side things are also progressing despite the "crypto winter", the sharp fall of cryptocurrencies that stimulated this segment. For the organization, which orchestrates one of the largest contemporary art fairs in the world and has also set up in Paris since last year, "The popularity of digital, film and video art has increased significantly, from 1% of sales in 2021 to 5% last year."



NFTs (digital certificates of authenticity for online content that have been in high popularity), which support digital art, "are largely responsible for this change and show how the market continues to evolve and adapt to the times," Horowitz said.

The new Eldorado for collectors

In 2022, wealthy collectors – surveyed by Arts Economics in collaboration with UBS Investor Watch – remain optimistic about the future of the market. They spent more in 2022 than before the pandemic and are looking positively ahead to 2023, "with solid spending plans."

According to this survey, 77% of these wealthy collectors expected the market to grow and the majority of them indicated the intention to buy art in 2023. "So while signals of macroeconomic volatility are a dominant topic of discussion as we head into 2023, the data shows us a resilient art market supported by collectors with significant funds, particularly in the high-end," says Horowitz.


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