Finnish Visual Art Statistics 2025 have been published

Visitor numbers at Finnish art museums and galleries remained high in 2025. The visitor record from the previous year was exceeded, according to the tenth annual visual arts statistics report published by Frame. Attendance at visual arts events rose significantly, particularly due to popular light art events.

Finnish visual arts venues—art museums, art galleries, and visual arts events—received a total of over 5.3 million visits in 2025. Visitor numbers rose slightly from the previous year’s record figures, according to the tenth annual statistics report published by Frame Contemporary Art Finland.

Art museums were once again the most popular attractions. In 2025, Finland’s 71 art museums recorded over 3 million visits. The number of visits remained at the previous year’s level.

The five most popular art museums were once again the Helsinki-based Ateneum (507,881 visits), the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma (274,394), Amos Rex (233,871), the Helsinki Art Museum HAM (178,272), and, in Espoo, EMMA – the Espoo Museum of Modern Art (159,997). Outside the capital area, the most popular art museums were the Moomin Museum in Tampere with 118,356 visits and the Rovaniemi Art Museum with 99,671 visits.

Visual arts events, such as visual art festivals and summer exhibitions, attracted a total of 800,000 visitors. This figure includes 24 visual arts events held in 2025. The most popular events were the light art events Lux Helsinki (300,000 visitors), City of Light in Jyväskylä (170,000), and the Lumo Light Festival in Oulu (90,000). The number of visitors to visual arts events increased by nearly 200,000 compared to the previous year. This significant growth is largely due to the popular light art events, some of which reported their visitor numbers to Frame’s event statistics for the first time.

“Statistics show that visual arts venues are among the most popular cultural attractions in Finland—over the past ten years, visitor numbers to art museums, art galleries, and visual arts events have risen by 40 percent. At the same time, this popularity has not yet translated into financial gains for the field, which has faced challenges in recent years due to both the general economy and cuts in public funding. The ability of visual arts organisations to make long-term investments in the export and sale of art would create much-needed vitality for the entire sector,” says Juha Huuskonen, CEO of Frame.

Gallery visitor and sales figures remain at the previous year’s level

Frame’s annual gallery statistics provide a comprehensive overview of the exhibitions and other activities of art galleries operating in Finland, including visitor numbers, fee practices, art sales and finances, as well as the activities of art lending services operating within galleries.

In 2025, there were 127 art galleries operating in 32 different locations across Finland. The galleries received approximately 1.5 million visits during the year, which was 2 percent fewer than the previous year. Works by a total of 3,400 artists were on display in over 900 exhibitions organised by the galleries.

The galleries that responded to Frame’s statistics survey reached a total of 6.1 million euros in art sales, compared to 5.2 million in 2024. Art sales from different years cannot be directly compared with one another, as they are based on the number of galleries that reported their sales figures in the survey. For 2025, sales figures were received from 39 galleries, which was 10 more than the previous year. Consequently, the average number of artworks sold by galleries decreased slightly from the previous year’s figure. In 2025, galleries sold a total of approximately 2,700 artworks. 77 % of the sales were made by private galleries.

In 2025, there were 25 art lending services operating in connection with galleries, 13 of which responded to the statistics survey. The art lending services that responded to the survey made a total of over 1,860 new art loans in 2025. Sales generated from art loans and direct purchases totaled 1.4 million euros.

Art sales in many channels

Frame’s gallery statistics gather art sales figures from galleries that have reported their sales data in the annual statistics survey. Art sales also take place through other channels: artists sell artworks directly from their studios and online. In recent years, online stores for contemporary art have also achieved significant sales figures in Finland. In 2025, online stores sold over 2,000 artworks with a total value of over one million euros. These sales figures were obtained from two online art stores. Private individuals also sell artworks to clients and collectors. Thus, the art gallery statistics do not cover all art sales taking place in Finland.

10 Years of Visual Arts Statistics

The visual arts statistics compiled by Frame were now published for the tenth time. The visual arts statistics were originally developed through a collaboration involving Frame, the Center for Cultural Policy Research (Cupore), HIAP – Helsinki International Artist Programme, the Arts Promotion Centre (now KUVI), the National Board of Antiquities, the Association of Finnish Gallerists, the Finnish Artists’ Association, and Statistics Finland’s cultural statistics unit.

Frame would like to thank all the experts and partners who have contributed to the compilation of visual arts statistics over the years. The greatest thanks go to the art museums, art galleries, and visual arts events, whose annual reporting forms the basis for the statistics report and data supporting the development of the whole sector.