Official Statistics

DCMS-sponsored museums and galleries annual performance indicators 2024/25: headline release

Published 23 April 2026

Applies to England

1. Details

Release date: 23rd April 2026

Next release: 2027

Geographic Coverage: England

Responsible statistician: Victoria Maders

This release presents the annual performance indicator data collected by DCMS-sponsored museums and galleries for the financial year 2024/25 at the national level for England. Data for individual museums and galleries are available in the accompanying tables.

The 15 DCMS sponsored museums and galleries are:

• British Museum
• Museum of the Home
• Horniman Museum
• Imperial War Museums
• National Gallery
• National Museums Liverpool
• National Portrait Gallery
• Natural History Museum
• Royal Armouries
• Royal Museums Greenwich
• Science Museum Group
• Sir John Soane’s Museum
• Tate Gallery Group
• Victoria and Albert Museum^{[footnote 1]}
• The Wallace Collection

The performance indicators used in this publication of DCMS sponsored Museums and Galleries Performance Indicators Statistics 2024/25 are:

Access

• Number of visits to the museum/gallery
• Number of unique website visitors

Audience profile

• Number of visits by children under 16
• Number of overseas visits

Learning and outreach

• Number of facilitated and self-directed visits to the museum/gallery by visitors under 18 in formal education
• Number of instances of visitors under 18 participating in on-site organised activities

Visitor satisfaction

• Percentage of visitors who would recommend a visit

Regional engagement

• Number of UK loan venues

Self-generated income

• Self-generated income - admissions
• Self-generated income - trading income (net profit)
• Self-generated income - Charitable giving (fundraising/contributed income)

Definitions for a selection of these indicators are available in the Glossary.

Data collection methods vary between institutions and performance indicators. DCMS does not prescribe any particular collection method but provides the flexibility for museums and galleries to adopt a cost efficient data collection approach. The figures presented may not match those published in the individual Annual Reports and Accounts of organisations. This is because organisations routinely review and, if necessary, amend data from recent years ahead of this statistical release, whereas Annual Reports are published at a specific point in time and are not retrospectively updated. Additional information on how the data are collected is available in the Performance Indicator Guidance.

When making year on year comparisons, it is worth keeping in mind the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions on visitor numbers, including:

• 2019/20 data was affected by the closure of museums and galleries from 17 March 2020, as COVID-19 restrictions were introduced.
• 2020/21 data was affected by the continuation and evolution of the COVID-19 rules, which in practice meant museums were regularly closed during this period.If museums were open in this period (e.g. most were open from 4 July to 5 November 2020), they utilised social distancing rules and limited capacity.
• 2021/22 data was affected by the easing of COVID-19 rules during spring and early summer 2021 (all legal restrictions were removed from 19 July 2022), plus the re-introduction of some restrictions in December 2021 until February 2022. Some museums maintained their own rules around ticketed entry times and face coverings.

Whilst specific pandemic restrictions had been lifted by 2024/25, some museums have implemented measures to manage visitor numbers in cases where demand has been close to or has exceeded capacity.

2. Headline findings

2.1 Access to DCMS sponsored museums and galleries

Between April 2024 and March 2025, there were almost 42^{[footnote 2]} million visits to DCMS sponsored museums and galleries^{[footnote 3]}, a slight decrease of 1.3% from 42.5 million in 2023/24 and a 16% decrease compared to the 2018/2019 financial year when comparing museums open during both time periods.

Total visitor figures were relatively stable between 2015/16 and 2018/19, peaking at 49.8 million in 2018/19, the last year wholly unaffected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. For further details on visitor figures, we have a more frequent and timely quarterly publication of Museums and galleries monthly visits which gives a breakdown by location of total visitor figures. 

Figure 1: Total number of visits to DCMS sponsored museums and galleries, 2002/03 to 2024/25

13% of the total visits in the 2024/25 financial year were to museums and galleries located outside of London. This remains consistent with 2023/24 findings (13%) but is a decrease from 17% during the 2018/19 financial year, when comparing museums open in both time periods.

Visitor numbers for museums and galleries located in London are closer to returning to pre-pandemic levels than visitor figures for museums and galleries outside of London. 

• In the 2024/25 financial year, museums and galleries located in London received 36.6 million visits and the museums and galleries located outside of London received 5.2 million visits. 
• Compared to visits in the 2023/24 financial year, museums and galleries in London decreased by 1% from 37 million to 36.6 million visits and those located outside of London decreased by 3% from 5.4 million visits to 5.2 million, when comparing museums open during both time periods. 
• Comparing museums and galleries open in both 2018/19 and 2024/25, visits to museums in London had reduced by 12% (from 41.4 million to 36.6 million in 2024/25), whereas out of London visits reduced by 37% (from 8.3 million to 5.2 million in 2024/25).

Website Visits

In 2024/25, there were a total of over 145 million unique website visits to DCMS sponsored museum websites. This is a decrease of 12% from 165 million recorded in 2023/24 but 18% above the 123 million recorded in 2018/19, when comparing museums open in both time periods.

2.2 Audience profile

Number of visits by children

In 2024/25 there were approximately 7.7 million^{[footnote 4]} visits by children (under 16) to DCMS sponsored museums and galleries, accounting for 18% of all visits. This figure is a decrease of 10% compared to 2023/24 and a decrease of 9% compared to the figures recorded in 2018/19, when comparing museums open in both time periods.  Whilst the absolute figures for visits by under 16s has decreased, the proportion of visits by under 16s, compared to all visits, remains fairly consistent. Under 16’s made up 18% of visits in 2024/25. This is one percentage point higher than in 2018/19 (17%) and two percentage points lower than 2023/24 (20%), when comparing museums open during both time periods. 2023/24 saw the highest reported number of visits to museums by those under 16 years of age (exceeding 8.5 million) since the 2015/16 financial year.

Number of overseas visits

In 2024/25 there were an estimated 19.4 million^{[footnote 4]} visits by overseas visitors to DCMS sponsored museums and galleries. This figure is an increase of 2% compared to 2023/24 but a decrease of 17% compared to the figures recorded in 2018/19, when comparing museums open in both time periods.

In 2024/25 there were an estimated 22.6 million^{[footnote 4]} visits by domestic visitors to DCMS sponsored museums and galleries. When comparing museums open in both time periods, domestic visitors to DCMS sponsored museums and galleries were down 4% compared to 2023/24 and 15% compared to 2018/19.

Whilst the absolute figures vary, the proportion that overseas visitors make to the total number of visits to DCMS-sponsored museums and galleries appears relatively similar to the previous year and the pre-pandemic 2018/19 baseline figures. Looking at the proportion of overseas visitors in 2024/25, this is 46% of all visits, compared to 45% in the previous year, and 47% in 2018/19 data.

Figure 2: Total number of overseas and domestic visits to DCMS sponsored museums and galleries, 2018/19 to 2024/25

2.3 Learning and outreach

Number of instances of visitors under 18 participating in on-site organised activities

In 2024/25 there were approximately 1.7 million^{[footnote 5]} visits to DCMS sponsored museums and galleries where visitors under the age of 18 participated in onsite organised activities. This is an increase of 2% compared to the 2023/24 figure and is a 37% decrease compared to the figures recorded in 2018/19, when comparing museums open in both time periods.

Number of facilitated and self-directed visits to the museum/gallery by visitors under 18 in formal education

In 2024/25, there were approximately 1.8 million^{[footnote 6]} facilitated and self-directed visits by visitors under 18 and in formal education in 2023/24. This is an increase of 5% from 2023/24 and a decrease of 12% from 2018/19, when comparing museums open in both time periods.

2.4 Visitor satisfaction

In 2024/25, the mean proportion of visitors who said they would recommend a visit to each DCMS sponsored museum and gallery was 93.5%. This is similar to (0.3 percentage points lower than) the figure recorded in 2023/24 and 3 percentage points below the figure recorded in 2018/19, when comparing museums open in both time periods.

2.5 Regional Engagement

In 2024/25, DCMS sponsored museums and galleries loaned their items to 1,078 venues in the UK. This is an increase of 7% compared to the 1,011 loan venues in 2023/24 and a decrease of 16% compared to the 1,279 loan venues in 2018/19, when comparing museums open in both time periods.

Museums and galleries can loan items from their collections to institutions, organisations, exhibition facilities, or individual researchers. By lending their collections, the national museums engage new audiences, impact on a wide range of social outcomes and support the wider museum sector. ^{[footnote 7]}

2.6 Self-generated Income

In 2024/25, the total self-generated income for DCMS sponsored museums and galleries was £1.3 billion. This is the first instance since our records started in the 2008/09 financial year where the total self-generated income exceeded £1 billion, without adjusting for inflation. This figure shows an inflation adjusted increase of almost 2.5 times higher than the figures recorded in 2023/24 and was 3.6 times higher than the total self-generated income from 2018/19, when comparing museums open in both time periods.

This is largely due to a substantial increase in the self-generated fundraising income of the British Museum, which accounted for 81% of the fundraising income of all DCMS-sponsored museums.

The self-generated income consisted of:

• £1.2 billion (89% of total), from fundraising/contributed income, an inflation adjusted increase of over three times the figures recorded in 2023/24 and is almost five times higher compared to 2018/19.
• £71 million from admissions income (5% of total), a decrease of 6% from the figures recorded in 2023/24 and a 5% decrease compared to 2018/19.
• A trading net profit of £70 million (5% of total), an inflation adjusted increase of 5% over the figures recorded in 2023/24 and is a 22% increase compared to 2018/19.

Please note that parts may not sum to total due to rounding.

The total self-generated income for DCMS sponsored museums and galleries is made up of fundraising, admissions income and trading net profit.

DCMS publishes a separate report on Total income of DCMS-funded cultural organisations. This is due to be published on Wednesday 29 April 2026.

3. Glossary

3.1 Number of instances of visitors under 18 participating in on-site organised activities

Organised activities refer to pre-planned, mediated activities, such as talks, lectures, courses, demonstrations, guided tours etc led by museum staff, volunteers or freelancers employed by the museum. The measure is asking for the number of total instances that children participated as distinct from the number of children participating.

3.2 Facilitated and self-directed visits

A facilitated visit is a group visit to a museum/gallery that is led or heavily supported by a member of staff (including volunteers) or a person hired by the museum e.g. an artist, for at least part of the visit. A facilitated visit is one that has been planned and structured by teachers and museum/gallery staff to support the curriculum, with specific learning outcomes.

A self-directed visit is a group visit facilitated by a person who is not a member of the museum/gallery staff.

3.3 Visitor satisfaction

The proportion of visitors who would recommend a visit is defined as those who answered ‘How likely are you to recommend a visit to your friends or family’ with ‘definitely will’ or ‘probably will’.

3.4 Loan venue

A loan venue is defined as any approved borrowing institution, organisation, exhibition facility, or individual researcher who has been loaned an item from one of the DCMS-sponsored museums and galleries. Loaning items from permanent collections is not practical for every museum or gallery.

For more detail on museum partnership activities see the museum partnership report.

4. Further Information

Sponsored Museums: Performance Indicators is an Official Statistic and has been produced to the standards set out in the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. Additional information is available here.

The data are collected by the museums through sample surveys, with the exception of the information on physical visits and website visits, which are based on actual counts.

For enquiries on this release, please contact evidence@dcms.gov.uk.

For general enquiries contact:

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

100 Parliament Street

London

SW1A 2BQ

Email: enquiries@dcms.gov.uk.

1. The V&A museum site in Dundee is operated as a separate charity to the main V&A museum group. As such, its figures are excluded from this publication and data set.  ↩

2. The latest statistics on the monthly and quarterly visitor figures for each DCMS-sponsored museum or gallery can be accessed from the Museum and galleries monthly visits webpage.  ↩

3. The following museum was closed during the time periods being compared and are excluded in calculations for those time periods: Museum of the Home (January 2018 to June 2021). Some museums within museum groups were closed during some of the comparison times, however as the data in this publication uses museum group totals they have been included in comparisons. These museums are SMG Science and Innovation Park (opened in October 2024), SMG National Media Museum (fully closed during the 2024/25 financial year), Tate Liverpool (closed through the financial year but some visits recorded at temporary placements at RIBA North) and V&A Blythe House (full closure during the 2024/25 financial year).  ↩

4. When calculating proportions of total visits for visitor sub-groups (child and overseas visitors), the Museum of the Home has been excluded because it was closed throughout the reporting period. The National Coal Mining Museum England has also been excluded because only total visitor numbers are collected and are not disaggregated by visitor characteristics. ↩ ↩² ↩³

5. Figures and percentage changes from the Museum of the Home have been excluded from educational visits, where under 18 year old visitors participated in onsite organised activities, because it was closed throughout the reporting period. ↩

6. Figures and percentage changes from the Museum of the Home have been excluded from the visitor satisfaction indicators because it was closed throughout the reporting period. ↩

7. Museums Partnership Report: Sharing Collections 2019/20 ↩