The United Kingdom is the leading European art market and one of the major hubs for the global art trade. In 2023, the UK made up approximately 17 percent of
, ranking third behind the United States and China. When comparing the
, the United Kingdom alone generated a higher value than all the 27 EU member countries. That said, while the UK is the biggest art market with the lowest
, France became one of the most convenient countries to import art within the EU single market after Brexit.
How much of the UK’s art trade depends on the EU?
Both before and after Brexit, the highest value of
works of art and antiques imported into the United Kingdom came from non-EU countries, which represented nearly 60 percent of total art imports in 2023. In the same vein, art and antiques exported to non-EU markets accounted for over 70 percent of the
total art exports’ value from the UK that year. After Brexit, however, exports to EU countries reached their highest figures in over a decade. That might be because, since leaving the EU single market, the UK’s tax, payments, and customs authority HMRC changed the way it collected trade data with the European Union. Thus, while it is ultimately not possible to compare data released after 2021 with those previously reported due to the change in methodology, these figures are now useful to understand the extent of
the UK-EU art trade after Brexit.
London’s role in the global auction market
As three of the
leading auction houses worldwide - Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Phillips – were originally founded in the British capital during the 18th century, it does not surprise that the United Kingdom still plays a pivotal role in the global auction market. When breaking down the
combined auction sales of Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Phillips by location, London was only second to New York in 2022, but placed third in 2023, being narrowly surpassed by Hong Kong. This scenario was also reflected in the total
revenue at public auctions of fine art and NFTs worldwide in 2023, with London ranking behind the U.S. and China, but generating higher sales than France, Germany, and Italy combined.
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