Jose Sanchez
Research expert covering society, economy, & politics for Latin America
Online art market - statistics & facts
The online art market has reached a new normal. While the coronavirus pandemic represented the most difficult challenge for the wider art market since the 2008 financial crisis, this was certainly not the case for the online segment. With auction houses and galleries boosting their digital presence, online sales of art and antiques skyrocketed during the lockdowns, remaining far above pre-pandemic levels in the following years. In 2024, online art sales exceeded 10 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for almost one-fifth of the global art market value.
While online art sales managed to stay relevant after the pandemic, the global art market still relies heavily on traditional channels, especially when it comes to high-end transactions. According to an analysis of the top lots sold at online-only auctions worldwide, only three lots fetched over two million U.S. dollars in 2024. Thus, after the normalization of online sales, gaining collectors’ trust in using online channels for more expensive transactions would be the key to kick-starting a digital revolution in the art trade.
How has the online auction market changed since the pandemic?
Online auctions are not a new concept, but they only accounted for a small share of sales at leading global auction houses like Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Phillips prior to COVID-19. However, in response to the pandemic, these companies significantly boosted their online services, marking a new era for this market. Many of these services are still in use today, and, in 2024, the combined online-only auction sales of Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Phillips amounted to just under 800 million U.S. dollars, nearly a five-fold increase from 2019. This shows that, although both the sales value and the number of online-only auctions have declined steadily since the peaks reported during the pandemic, interest in selling art online has not disappeared with the return of in-person events.Was the NFT art market worth the hype?
With the non-fungible token (NFT) craze already losing steam in 2023, the aggregated sales value of art and collectible NFTs worldwide declined even further in 2024, almost halving over the previous year. When focusing on the art segment, monthly figures on art-related NFT sales show that, after the sharp rise and fall that followed Beeple’s auction in 2021, transactions reached a more stable but much lower level. Therefore, rather than revolutionizing the sector, non-fungible tokens carved out their niche within the online art market.While online art sales managed to stay relevant after the pandemic, the global art market still relies heavily on traditional channels, especially when it comes to high-end transactions. According to an analysis of the top lots sold at online-only auctions worldwide, only three lots fetched over two million U.S. dollars in 2024. Thus, after the normalization of online sales, gaining collectors’ trust in using online channels for more expensive transactions would be the key to kick-starting a digital revolution in the art trade.
