According to the list from the international publication specialising in contemporary art, the Serralves Museum is the only Portuguese museum to be included on this list, which is led by the Louvre Museum in Paris, with nine million visitors, followed by the Vatican Museums, with 6.9 million, and in third place, the National Museum of South Korea, with 6.5 million.

Maintaining popularity

Data collected by The Art Newspaper "shows that, in general, art museums remain as popular as ever, with many of the largest museums continuing to welcome millions of people every year," totalling more than 200 million visits to the top 100 museums on the list, "a figure still slightly below the 230 million recorded in 2019, but far from the 54 million of 2020."

Museum attendance in continental Europe remained stable, with the main venues in France, Spain, and Italy recovering from the disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and maintaining consistent visitor numbers. This indicates, with growth characterised by "a steady and predictable pace year after year."

High number of visitors

The British Museum in London ranked fourth on the list, with 6.4 million entries; the Metropolitan Museum in New York ranked fifth, with 5.9 million; and the State Russian Museum ranked sixth, with 5 million. The Prado National Museum in Madrid recorded 3.5 million visitors, ranking it 13th.

In the overall picture, there is an "explosion of visitors in South America and Asia, with the return in force of the Impressionists" in museum exhibitions.

Globally, The Art Newspaper highlights that "the most spectacular rise was seen in South Korea," with 70% more visitors to the National Museum of Korea in Seoul, going from 3.8 million in 2024 to 6.5 million in 2025.

Meanwhile, the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, also in Seoul, rose 28% to 2.1 million, the text says, noting that "the worldwide fervour for Korean culture is translating into visits to museums, both from locals and foreigners."

Important openings

Regarding the most important museum opening of 2025 – the Grand Egyptian Museum, on the outskirts of Cairo, which officially opened its doors in November – “it was not possible to obtain reliable visitor numbers.”

“The organisation [of the Grand Egyptian Museum] reported that it was receiving up to 18,000 visitors per day, which would equate to about 6.5 million annually — roughly the same as the British Museum,” the publication points out.