Museums in Italy - statistics & facts
Italy’s rich and diverse cultural heritage plays an invaluable role in attracting millions of travelers every year, making it one of the countries with the highest number of inbound tourist arrivals worldwide. World-famous archaeological sites, like Rome’s Colosseum and the ancient city of Pompeii, as well as renowned museums and galleries like the Uffizi in Florence and the Museo Egizio in Turin, are particularly important in driving tourism in Italian cities. Overall, the number of museums and similar cultural institutions in Italy exceeded 4,000 in 2022, with Tuscany, Emilia-Romagna, and Lombardy ranking as the Italian regions with the highest number of museums that year.
However, looking at historical data on the attendance at state museums and similar cultural institutions in Italy reveals that, despite strong signs of recovery, visitor numbers remained below pre-pandemic levels, totaling roughly 47 million in 2022. This figure only refers to institutions run by the MiC, excluding other public and private museums. While the total income of state museums in Italy followed a similar trend, some institutions recovered from the impact of the health crisis in 2022. For instance, the income of the Colosseum grew by nine percent compared to 2019, and the attendance also surpassed pre-pandemic levels, making it the most visited tourist attraction in Italy that year, ahead of the Uffizi Galleries and Pompeii.
Have museums in Italy recovered from the impact of COVID-19?
In Italy, public museums are cultural institutions managed by the Italian Ministry of Culture (MiC) and local governmental authorities. Meanwhile, private museums are institutions managed by private entities. In 2022, the total number of visitors to museums and similar institutions in Italy, including both public and private organizations, reached nearly 108 million, tripling compared to the first year of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.However, looking at historical data on the attendance at state museums and similar cultural institutions in Italy reveals that, despite strong signs of recovery, visitor numbers remained below pre-pandemic levels, totaling roughly 47 million in 2022. This figure only refers to institutions run by the MiC, excluding other public and private museums. While the total income of state museums in Italy followed a similar trend, some institutions recovered from the impact of the health crisis in 2022. For instance, the income of the Colosseum grew by nine percent compared to 2019, and the attendance also surpassed pre-pandemic levels, making it the most visited tourist attraction in Italy that year, ahead of the Uffizi Galleries and Pompeii.
