Back to the complete issue
Thursday, 23 March 2017

Global art market declines to lowest point since financial crisis

Global art sales at lowest point since financial crisis: Sales of art and antiquities globally dropped 11% to USD 56.6 bn in 2016, according to a report by UBS Group AG and Art Basel carried by Bloomberg. The contraction was the second in as many years and brought the market down its lowest levels since the financial crisis “as economic and political volatility weighed on auction sales.” Art Economics founder Clare McAndrew is cautious about 2017, seeing “sellers holding back as economic and geopolitical uncertainty continues in many countries.” However, buyers “may view art and antiques as ‘a relative safe haven amidst volatility elsewhere,’ increasing prices for the works that appear on the market. The losers of 2016 included auction sales, which declined by 26% y-o-y to USD 22.1 bn, and the market share lost by industry leaders Sotheby’s and Christie’s, as well as the 18% decline in the sales of postwar and contemporary works. The US still leads the global market with 40% of all transactions, and sales by dealers and galleries and in art fairs outperformed in 2016.

Enterprise is a daily publication of Enterprise Ventures LLC, an Egyptian limited liability company (commercial register 83594), and a subsidiary of Inktank Communications. Summaries are intended for guidance only and are provided on an as-is basis; kindly refer to the source article in its original language prior to undertaking any action. Neither Enterprise Ventures nor its staff assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, whether in the form of summaries or analysis. © 2022 Enterprise Ventures LLC.

Enterprise is available without charge thanks to the generous support of HSBC Egypt (tax ID: 204-901-715), the leading corporate and retail lender in Egypt; EFG Hermes (tax ID: 200-178-385), the leading financial services corporation in frontier emerging markets; SODIC (tax ID: 212-168-002), a leading Egyptian real estate developer; SomaBay (tax ID: 204-903-300), our Red Sea holiday partner; Infinity (tax ID: 474-939-359), the ultimate way to power cities, industries, and homes directly from nature right here in Egypt; CIRA (tax ID: 200-069-608), the leading providers of K-12 and higher level education in Egypt; Orascom Construction (tax ID: 229-988-806), the leading construction and engineering company building infrastructure in Egypt and abroad; Moharram & Partners (tax ID: 616-112-459), the leading public policy and government affairs partner; Palm Hills Developments (tax ID: 432-737-014), a leading developer of commercial and residential properties; Mashreq (tax ID: 204-898-862), the MENA region’s leading homegrown personal and digital bank; Industrial Development Group (IDG) (tax ID:266-965-253), the leading builder of industrial parks in Egypt; Hassan Allam Properties (tax ID:  553-096-567), one of Egypt’s most prominent and leading builders; and Saleh, Barsoum & Abdel Aziz (tax ID: 220-002-827), the leading audit, tax and accounting firm in Egypt.