Number of visitors to the Louvre Museum in Paris 2003-2023

From a former royal residence to an internationally renowned museum, the Louvre is one of the most popular cultural sites worldwide. Attendance at the famous Parisian institution, the most visited museum worldwide, grew in 2023 over the previous year, reaching nearly 8.9 million. Despite the annual increase, the number of visitors to the Louvre Museum remained below the figures reported in 2018 and 2019, before the impact of COVID-19.

Impact of COVID-19 on the museum industry

The COVID-19 pandemic hit the global museum industry hard, as most institutions across the globe had to shut down for months in the first two years of the health crisis due to lockdowns and emergency restrictions. As a result of the closures, the number of visitors at leading museums worldwide fell dramatically. While attendance at the most visited institutions rose significantly in 2022 compared to the previous year, it did not catch up yet with pre-pandemic figures.

Is tourism in Paris recovering from the impact of COVID-19?

Paris is one of the most popular European and global travel destinations. According to the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), the French capital was the leading city worldwide based on the direct contribution of travel and tourism to GDP in 2022. That year, the number of tourist arrivals to Paris and the Île-de-France region nearly doubled compared to 2021, driven by a significant increase in inbound travelers.