The Louvre palace (Richelieu wing)
British Museum, London, United Kingdom
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, United States
This article lists the most visited art museums in the world. This list of 100 is based on an attendance survey compiled by The Art Newspaper published in April 2013.
The country with the highest number of visitors in the top 100 is the United Kingdom. The country with the most museums appearing in the list is the United States.
The list also includes exhibition centers organizing temporary art displays. Several major art museums, such as the Palace Museum in Beijing, which annually draw close to 12 million visitors, the Museo del Prado in Madrid, with 2,800,000 visitors in 2012, and the National Museum of Anthropology of Mexico City, with 1,767,092 visitors in 2011, were not included.
Annual fluctuations occur due to the popularity of special exhibitions and improved collections. For example, the National Gallery of Victoria 2,800,000 visitors in 2017, placing it well into the top 20.
Rank |
Museum |
City |
Country |
Visitor Count |
---|
1
|
Louvre |
Paris |
France |
9,720,260 |
2
|
Metropolitan Museum of Art |
New York |
USA |
6,115,881 |
3
|
British Museum |
London |
UK |
5,575,946 |
4
|
Tate Modern |
London |
UK |
5,304,710 |
5
|
National Gallery |
London |
UK |
5,163,902 |
6
|
Vatican Museums |
Vatican City |
Vatican City |
5,064,546 |
7
|
National Palace Museum |
Taipei |
Taiwan |
4,360,815 |
8
|
National Gallery of Art |
Washington |
USA |
4,200,000 |
9
|
Centre Pompidou |
Paris |
France |
3,800,000 |
10
|
Musée d'Orsay |
Paris |
France |
3,600,000 |
11
|
Victoria & Albert Museum |
London |
UK |
3,231,700 |
12
|
National Museum of Korea |
Seoul |
South Korea |
3,128,550 |
13
|
Hermitage Museum |
St Petersburg |
Russia |
2,882,385 |
14
|
Museum of Modern Art |
New York |
USA |
2,805,659 |
15
|
Museo del Prado |
Madrid |
Spain |
2,800,000 |
16
|
National Folk Museum of Korea |
Seoul |
South Korea |
2,640,264 |
17
|
Museo Reina Sofía |
Madrid |
Spain |
2,565,000 |
18
|
Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil |
Rio de Janeiro |
Brazil |
2,235,354 |
19
|
National Portrait Gallery |
London |
UK |
2,096,858 |
20
|
Shanghai Museum |
Shanghai |
China |
1,944,820 |
21
|
National Museum of Scotland |
Edinburgh |
United Kingdom |
1,893,521 |
22
|
Galleria degli Uffizi |
Florence |
Italy |
1,769,217 |
23
|
Moscow Kremlin |
Moscow |
Russia |
1,735,600 |
24
|
National Galleries of Scotland |
Edinburgh |
United Kingdom |
1,604,105 |
25
|
J. Paul Getty Museum |
Los Angeles |
United States |
1,590,608 |
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