UK Museums Still Have Yet to See Pre-Pandemic Attendance, New Report Reveals

Attendance at national museums and galleries in the UK has dropped massively since the pandemic, even despite a lack of restrictions, according to a new report published by the UK government this month.

The report centers on data from a 15-museum network that includes institutions such as the British Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, the V&A, and the Tate museums. Per the report, the amount of people that visited those museums during the first quarter of 2023 was more than a quarter fewer than a similar period before the pandemic.

Between 2022 and 2023, there were a total of 35.1 million visits to state-backed museums and galleries in the agency’s network, the report found. That’s about 14 million fewer visitors than the amount recorded from 2018 to 2019.

The report also found that, between 2022 and 2023, foot traffic from international visitors saw a sharp drop. Compared to pre-pandemic figures recorded in 2019, attendance at DCMS-sponsored museums and galleries plummeted by a striking 49.5 percent in 2023.

The report also showed that the museum network saw loans to other other museums in surrounding regions in the country decline. Institutions sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media, and Sport loaned items to over 1,000 other UK cultural institutions, marking an 18 percent decrease compared to 2019.

The report’s author, statistician Fahim Ali, stated the trend shows the pandemic’s lingering effects, saying that the period “reduced the capacity of partners or potential partners to enter into projects both at international and regional locations.”