The Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report: Continued Growth for Global Art Market, With Evidence of Active Buying by Millennial Collectors

ZURICH, March 8, 2019 /PRNewswire/ --

    --  Global art market up 6% to an estimated $67.4 billion, its second
        highest level in 10 years.
    --  US retains position as the largest market; and the United Kingdom
        regains its place as the second largest market ahead of China.
    --  UBS research collaboration reveals fresh insight on collecting behaviors
        of high net worth individuals in the UK, Germany, Hong Kong, Singapore
        and Japan.

UBS and Art Basel today published the third edition of the Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report, authored by renowned cultural economist Dr Clare McAndrew, and integrating strands of research from UBS. A comprehensive and macro-level analysis of the global art market in 2018, the report covers key trends in the market in the context of wider economic shifts.

The key findings include:

    --  Global Sales: Sales reached an estimated $67.4 billion in 2018, an
        increase of 6% on 2017, with further consolidation at the top end. This
        brings the market to its second highest level in 10 years, with values
        advancing 9% over the decade from 2008 to 2018.
    --  Leading Markets: The US retained its position as the largest market
        worldwide, accounting for 44% of sales by value. Sales in the US reached
        $29.9 billion, the highest recorded level to date. Despite political
        uncertainty surrounding Brexit, the United Kingdom had a relatively
        strong year of sales in 2018, with the value of sales to and from the UK
        art market currently dominated by non-EU trade. With values rising 8% to
        just under $14 billion, the UK regained its place as the second largest
        market at 21%. Sales in China, the third largest market at 19% reached
        $12.9 billion in 2018, a decline of 3% year-on-year.
    --  Global Wealth and Art Buyers: The report includes the results of a
        survey of high net worth collectors in the UK, Germany, Singapore, Hong
        Kong and Japan carried out in 2018 by Art Economics and UBS. In previous
        surveys of US collectors, conducted as part of ongoing research into
        investor sentiment, UBS Investor Watch, the majority of respondents were
        aged 50 years and over, however, in the newer markets in Asia, a very
        different age profile emerged in 2018: in Singapore, 46% of collectors
        were millennials, and 39% were millennials in Hong Kong. Millennial
        collectors made up just under half (45%) of the high-end spenders ($1
        million plus), underlining the importance of the spending power of this
        demographic.
    --  Online Sales: The online art market reached an estimated new high of $6
        billion in 2018, up 11% year-on-year. At 9% of the value of global sales
        this is slightly lower than the global online retail sector, where
        e-commerce represented 12% of total retail sales in 2018. The UBS and
        Art Economics survey of HNW collectors in 5 markets, showed that the
        majority (72%) had not exceeded a price of $50,000 online. However,
        there is evidence that some collectors are increasingly willing to pay
        high prices online. 17% of the sample had bought a work of art or object
        for $100,000 or more and 4% had spent $1 million or higher on a work of
        art online.
    --  Auction figures: Sales at public auction of fine and decorative art and
        antiques reached $29.1 billion in 2018, up 3% year-on-year, and up
        nearly 30% on 2016. Works of art selling at prices in excess of $1
        million accounted for 61% of total sales value in the fine art auction
        market in just 1% of lots. Auction sales in the US had the strongest
        growth, increasing by 18% to $11.8 billion.
    --  Dealer Figures: Sales in the dealer sector increased 7% year-on-year to
        an estimated $35.9 billion. The advance in sales continued to be driven
        by the high end of the market.
    --  Art Fairs: Art fairs continue to be a central part of the global art
        market, with aggregate sales estimated to have reached $16.5 billion in
        2018, up 6% year-on-year. The share of the total value of global dealer
        sales made at art fairs was 46% in 2018.
    --  Gender issues: The report includes a comprehensive review of artist
        representation and gender issues. Notable research presented includes:
        --  According to data from Artfacts.net, the share of women in global
            exhibitions has grown from 25% in 2000, up to 33% in 2018.
        --  For those galleries working in the primary market, 36% of the
            artists they represented in 2018 were female artists, which
            accounted for an average of 32% of their sales.

The report draws on two additional strands of UBS research:

    --  UBS Evidence Lab's research on luxury expenditure in Greater China
        Visiting the Great Mall which revealed that millennials are more
        confident than older consumers, with women being the 'most resilient
        spenders'. The research found that millennial luxury consumers have the
        highest current average transaction values and were considerably more
        confident about the future compared to more cautious older consumers,
        having high disposable incomes, property and little experience of
        economic recession.
    --  The UBS/PwC Billionaires Report 2018: New Visionaries and the Chinese
        Century. Despite healthy growth in the Americas, still home to the
        largest concentration of billionaire wealth, and in Europe, Chinese
        billionaires expanded their wealth at nearly double the pace, growing by
        39 percent to USD 1.12 trillion in 2017. The report found that China was
        creating two new billionaires a week, and Asia as a whole creating more
        than three billionaires per week. This shows a phenomenal trajectory
        over the last decade or so, as in 2006 there were only 16 Chinese
        billionaires.

Mark Haefele, Chief Investment Officer, UBS Global Wealth Management, said: "The art market is a fascinating reflection of economic developments and trends in wealth creation. Most notable is the growth of billionaire and millennial spending power, particularly in Asian markets. As ever, passion remains the market's lifeblood and drives the best collectors who value quality pieces that provide pleasure and cultural enrichment."

Download the full Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report here.

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SOURCE UBS