Art Dealers and Galleries NAICS 459920

Jul 21, 2025 - Global Auction Art Sales Down in First Half 2025

• According to a recent ArtTactic report in ArtNews, overall global auction sales at Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Phillips were down 6.2% in the first half of 2024 amid economic uncertainty, while the number of lots sold increased 1.3% year over year. Old Masters art and design, decorative arts, and furniture categories grew 35% and 20%, respectively, during the first six months of 2025. Meanwhile, other categories suffered: post-war and contemporary art fell 19%, impressionist and modern art dropped 7.7%, and luxury sales were mostly flat. ArtTactic COO Lindsay Dewar attributed the decline in sales of impressionist and modern art to a more conservative, risk-averse approach to new acquisitions by buyers. Auction sales represent a small piece of the overall art market, but point to a more selective climate for art sales.
• Art dealers may see an uptick in consumer interest, as the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index increased slightly in July 2025, rising to 61.8 in preliminary July data from 60.7 in June, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. The consumer sentiment index hit a recent peak in December of 74, buoyed following the presidential election, but dropped to 52.2 in April 2025 as consumers expressed uncertainty about tariff effects and rising inflation. The record low of the index during the past 10 years was in June 2022, when it reached 50. In July, respondents’ inflation expectations for the coming year were an anticipated price increase of 4.4%, which was tracking higher than in January, when respondents expected prices to grow by 3.9%. However, July’s inflation expectation results were lower than June’s, when respondents expected a 5% price increase for the coming year. The index serves as a predictor of consumer spending as it indicates consumers’ perception of their financial prospects and the broader economy.

• According to recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), employment by art dealers fell in April 2025, while wages for other miscellaneous retailers, which include art dealers, rose. Employment dipped 1.1% in April 2025 year over year. In the last decade, employment stayed flat in the sector, compared to the nearly 14% growth in overall private employment. Average wages at other miscellaneous retailers rose 4% in April 2025 year over year, reaching $22.65 an hour for nonsupervisory employees. In addition, consumer spending levels increased 2.7% in February 2025 compared to a year ago and were up 0.1% from the previous month, according to personal consumption expenditures data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
• The US art dealers and galleries industry is projected to grow at a 7.06% CAGR from 2025 to 2029, faster than the overall economy's projected growth, according to a forecast from Inforum and the Interindustry Economic Research Fund, Inc. The retail and wholesale sectors are driven by consumer spending, along with expenditure by businesses and government. Consumer sentiment is expected to improve in the forecast period, which bodes well for the sector. Retail spending could soften with the growth of spending on consumer services, but the forecast noted that consumers so far have maintained spending on goods even as spending on travel and live entertainment has risen. A factor that may limit consumer spending is higher tariffs on consumer goods. Lower inflation supports a moderate increase of real disposable income by about 2% in 2025 and 1.9% in 2026. Real income could suffer if prices rise due to tariff implementation.