Millennial collectors lead art market sales, spending six times more than Boomers, while female collectors spend more than men, a new UBS survey reveals.

UBS and Art Basel published the fourth edition of the Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report, authored by renowned cultural economist Clare McAndrew, and integrating strands of research from UBS.

The report covers key trends in the market in the context of wider economic shifts. The eight key findings include:

1. Global Sales

Sales reached an estimated $64.1 billion in 2019, a decrease of 5 percent in 2018, with contraction primarily at the top end, returning the market to just above its 2017 level. In contrast, the volume of global sales reached its highest level in a decade, growing by 2 percent year-on-year to an estimated 40.5 million transactions.

2. Leading Markets

The US retained its position as the largest market globally accounting for 44 percent of the market share, stable in 2018. Despite the uncertainty surrounding Brexit, the U.K. held its position as the second-largest market with a share of 20 percent (a decrease of 9 percent year-on-year). China remained the third-largest art market at 18 percent (a decrease of 1 percent year-on-year).

3. Global Wealth and Art Buyers

The report includes the results of a survey of 1,300 high net worth collectors carried out in 2019 by UBS Investor Watch and Arts Economics across seven markets: U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. Millennial collectors were found to be the most active buyers and spent the most, averaging total expenditure of $3 million over two years, more than six times the spending of Boomers. Female collectors, although fewer in number had a higher average level of spending than men, with a substantial 16 percent having spent over $10 million in the last two years. The female collectors surveyed also had larger collections than men on average, with one-third exceeding 100 works (versus 21 percent of men).

4. Online Sales

After more than five years of continuous growth in sales, the online market slowed in 2019 with sales estimated at $5.9 billion, a decline of 2 percent year-on-year, yet maintaining a 9 percent share of global sales by value. The UBS Investor Watch and Arts Economics HNW survey showed nearly half (48 percent) of the collectors used online platforms to purchase art either often or always. Millennial collectors were the most regular users of the online channel, with only 8 percent having never bought online. Although 65 percent of HNW collectors had not exceeded a price of $50,000 online for an individual work, one quarter had spent more than $100,000 and 8 percent had spent over $1 million, double the share that had spent at that price level in 2018.

5. Auction Figures

Sales at public auction reached $24.2 billion in 2019, down 17 percent after two years of consecutive growth. Auction sales declined by double-digits across all leading markets: the U.S., the U.K., and China. The slowdown was largely supply-driven, with a lower number of very high-priced lots coming up for sale. However, France saw sales rise by 16 percent to over $1.6 billion. Private sales also increased substantially, with all of the major auction houses posting double-digit year-on-year gains in this category.

6. Dealer Figures

Sales in the dealer sector increased 2 percent year-on-year, to an estimated $36.8 billion in 2019. The moderate growth in aggregate sales continued to be driven by the high end of the market. Finding new buyers was the biggest challenge cited by dealers in 2019.

7. Art Fairs

Art fairs remained a central part of the global art market, with aggregate sales estimated to reach $16.6 billion in 2019, 45 percent share of the total value of global dealer sales. 15 percent of sales were estimated to take place pre-fair ($2.5 billion); 64 percent during fairs ($10.6 billion); and 21 percent were made after the fair as a direct result of participation ($3.5 billion).

8. Gender Issues

The report again includes a review of artist representation and gender issues, revealing an average share of female buyers in the dealer segment of 36 percent, an increase of 9 percent in share on the figures reported in 2018. The representation of female artists by galleries working in the primary market rose 8 percent year-on-year to 44 percent of the total artists represented, while their share of sales also increased from 32 percent in 2018 to 40 percent on average in 2019.