In this article will have a look at the most visited museums in world.
To determine museum attendances, the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA), an organization dedicated to representing creatives all over the world, carried out and published a report in 2023.
According the statistics included in the report, in 2023 most of the notable museums saw their attendance increase from last year’s numbers, attracting a combined 57 million visitors which represented a 94% rise from 2021’s 29.5 million.
Let’s find out what are the most famous museums on this planet!
The Most Visited Museums in the World
| Rank | Museum | Total Visitors |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Louvre – France | 7.7 Million Visitors |
| 2 | Vatican Museums – Vatican | 5 Million Visitors |
| 3 | Natural History Museum – UK | 4.6 Million Visitors |
| 4 | British Museum – UK | 4.1 Million Visitors |
| 5 | National Museum of Natural History – USA | 3.9 Million Visitors |
| 6 | Tate Modern – UK | 3.8 Million Visitors |
| 7 | Musée D’Orsay – France | 3.270 Million Visitors |
| 8 | National Gallery of Art – USA | 3.256 Million Visitors |
| 9 | The Metropolitan Museum of Art – USA | 3.209 Million Visitors |
| 10 | Reina Sofia – Spain | 3 Million Visitors |
| 11 | State Hermitage – Russia | 2.8 Million Visitors |
| 12 | The National Gallery – UK | 2.7 Million Visitors |
| 13 | Victoria and Albert Museum – UK | 2.3 Million Visitors |
| 14 | The National Museum of China – China | 1.631 Million Visitors |
| 15 | Nanjing Museum – China | 1.610 Million Visitors |
| 16 | The China Science and Technology Museum – China | 1.4 Million Visitors |
| 17 | The National Palace Museum – China | 1 Million Visitors |
| 18 | Zhejiang Museum – China | 874 Thousands Visitors |
| 19 | Shanghai Science and Technology Museum – China | 494 Thousands Visitors |
| 20 | American Museum of Natural History – USA | n/a |
1. The Louvre (Paris, France)
The Louvre is the most visited museum in the world with 7.7 million visitors.
This massive number of visitors is a drop from the 2019’s 9.6 million, but it still a whooping 173% increase from last year’s 2.8 million visitors.
Of these 9.6 million guests, 30% were Parisians looking for interesting local exhibitions, while 70% were foreign visitors looking for permanent exhibits, and to experience the famous museum in general (which is also the largest museum in the world).
The Louvre has claimed this first position for years on end. The venue’s management has recently taken steps to make sure that visitors have a better experience, such as encouraging visitors to book online (rather than on-site) during summer months.
Located in the most visited country in world and the second most visited city in the world, it’s no wonder that the Louvre took the first place in this list.
2. Vatican Museums (Vatican City)
Vatican Museums had an attendance of 5 million visitors in 2022, which is a 215% increase from lat year’s numbers.
Like the Louvre in Paris, the Vatican Museums celebrated Leonardo Da Vinci’s 500th anniversary in 2019 by hosting a free three-month exhibition of his painting of Saint Jerome.
A notable exhibition at the Vatican Museums is the Tempo Divino, which extended its stay in the Vatican from 2019 to June 2020.
3. Natural History Museum (London, UK)
The Natural History Museum is the third most visited museum worldwide thanks to its 4.6 million visitors in 2022.
Its exhibits include around 80 million specimens and cover 5 main areas: entomology, botany, paleontology, zoology and mineralogy. Its dinosaur exhibits are among the museum’s most popular attractions.
In 2019, the Natural History Museum received support from The National Lottery for its Urban Nature project, which is aimed at transforming its 5 acres of outdoor space into an area suitable for urban wildlife research and conservation.
4. British Museum (London, UK)
With 4.1 million visitors in 2022, this museum’s attendance saw a 209% increase from last year’s attendance.
The British Museum was the first ever public museum in the world, and is home to around 8 million works of art. One of the exhibitions which drove large numbers to the museum in 2019 was a collaboration with the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia (IAMM) in Kuala Lumpur.
The exhibition’s theme was “Inspired by the East: How the Islamic World Influenced Western Art”. The British Museum has also collaborated with Samsung to reopen the Samsung Digital Discovery Center (a learning hub for teens) and a “Virtual Visits” scheme for 35,000 school children.
5. National Museum of Natural History (Washington DC, USA)
This Smithsonian Institute of Washington DC museum is among the most-visited museums in all of the United States. It had 3.9 million visitors in 2022, a 297% increase from last year and very close to the 4.9 million visitors it had in 2019.
This free museum opened its doors in 1910 and was one of the first Smithsonian buildings. It’s home to over 126 million scientific specimens and artifacts, including 30 million pinned insects, over 4 million pressed plants, 7 million fish, countless rocks and meteorites and about 400,000 photographs.
The museum’s largest space is the Sant Ocean Hall, where visitors can see a replica of a 25-foot-long North Atlantic Right Whale.
6. Tate Modern (London, UK)
Tate Modern is the third UK museum on this list and the sixth overall with a 236% increase in attendance from last year to receiving now 3.8 million visitors in 2022.
Tate Museum is a great place to explore and learn about both British and International contemporary and modern art from the 1900s to the present.
Housed in the former Bankside Power Station – one of London’s most historic buildings – Tate is able to display massive pieces in its huge turbine hall. It was founded in 2000.
Among the cancelled events the museum had planned this year was a fantastic immersive exhibition of ‘Infinity Rooms,’ by the Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama.
7. Musée D’Orsay (Paris, France)
This museum was built between 1898 and 1900, and saw an impressive 213% rise in attendance this year to 3.270 million people.
Works exhibited here include masterpieces by Van Gogh, Gauguin, Monet, Degas, Renoir and Cezanne.
Recently, the Musée d’Orsay drew over 500,000 visitors with the “Black Models: from Gericault to Matisse” exhibition – and 413,000 guests with the “Berthe Morisot” exhibition.
8. National Gallery of Art (Washington DC, US)
The National Gallery of Art’s visitors rose by 91% from 2021 to 2022’s 3.2 million visitors.
This museum is dedicated to education and culture and is home to over 150,000 pieces including sculptures, photographs, paintings, prints and drawings. Its art collection includes mainly European and American art from the Renaissance period to modern-day work.
Exhibited notable artists include Da Vinci, Monet, Jackson Pollok and others. The gallery spans two buildings – the Western building (made of pink Tennessee marble) is home to historic works, while the Eastern building is home to modern art.
9. The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, US)
Next on this list is the Metropolitan Museum, commonly known as the Met. The Met’s attendance in 2022 was 3.2 million visitors, a 64% rise from last year’s 1.9 million visitors.
Among the reasons why the Met’s attendance was so high was the record-breaking Michelangelo: Divine Draftsman and Designer exhibition. The famous Met Gala is also hosted here every year – even in 2019 the event was held online due to the pandemic.
10. Reina Sofia (Madrid, Spain)
Spain’s first entry on this list is Madrid’s Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia (MNCARS).
This museum saw a nice 84% increase in attendance from 2021 to 2022’s 3 million visitors.
The Reina Sofia’s free areas are among the biggest contributors to this rise in attendance. Popular exhibitions include “The Poetics of Democracy: Images and Counter-Images from the Spanish Transition” and “Charles Ray: Four Patterns”.
11. State Hermitage (St Petersburg, Russia)
Russia’s State Hermitage saw a significant rise in attendance from 2021 to 2.8 million visitors in 2022. It is the second-largest art museum in the world and among the oldest, dating back to 1764.
The museum opened its doors to the public in 1852. Since then, visitors have enjoyed major collections of paintings within the museum’s complex of ancient buildings.
These buildings include the Winter Palace, home of Russian Emperors, and the Menshikov Palace. Recently, the museum hosted an exhibition on the work of Boticelli, Rembrandt and Picasso, which drew thousands of visitors.
12. The National Gallery (London, UK)
The UK’s forth entry in this list is the National Gallery. It saw an impressive 285% rise in visitors from 2021 to 2.7 million visitors in 2022. The gallery is situated in Trafalgar Square and is home to over 2,300 paintings dated from the 13th century to the 1900s.
The National Gallery is currently expanding its brand into Asia – it has a branded pop-up gallery in Guangzhou, China, which is currently treating its visitors to replicas of famous works by artists such as Da Vinci and Michelangelo.
13. Victoria and Albert Museum (London, UK)
The Victoria and Albert Museum also saw a big 176% increase in its number of annual visitors, with 2022 welcoming 2.3 million guests.
This museum has a permanent collection of over 2.3 million pieces spanning over 5,000 years of human creativity. The “Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams” exhibition drew 595,000 visitors to the museum, and demonstrates the interest which visitors still maintain in international fashion houses.
14. The National Museum of China (Beijing, China)
Falling from the second place in 2019, the National Museum of China saw another -31% drop in attendance with 1.6 million visitors in 2022.
This is the museum to visit for all things related to modern and ancient Chinese history, with 190,000 square feet of galleries and exhibitions.
Among the popular masterpieces stored in the Tiananmen Square-based museum include Neolithic treasures, jade carvings aged around 8,000 years old, and the flag raised by Mao Zedong during the proclamation of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.
15. Nanjing Museum (Nanjing, China)
This Chinese museum also saw a -21% drop in attendance with 1.6 million visitors in 2022. The Nanjing Museum is one of the oldest museums in China and has been expanded twice – in 1999 and 2009.
It is home to a massive permanent collection of over 400,000 pieces, and includes Ming and Qing imperial porcelain pieces along with an exhibition on the Jiangsu area during ancient times. This exhibition covers the history of the Ming and Qing dynasties.
Visitors can also view a wall made of bricks from the Northern and Southern Dynasties plus a dinosaur skeleton.
16. The China Science and Technology Museum (Beijing, China)
Attendance at the China Science and Technology Museum of Beijing also decreased in 2022.
It drew 1.4 million visitors in the 2022, a -39% drop from 2021’s 2.3 million visitors. This museum was founded in 1988, but moved locations in 2006 in preparation for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
This museum has 5 permanent exhibitions: The Glory of China, Science & Technology and Life, Explorations and Discoveries, Science Paradise and Challenges and the Future.
17. The National Palace Museum (Taipei, China)
Coming in at 17th place is The National Palace Museum of Taipei China. Its attendance saw a big boost, with a 149% increase from last year to 2022’s 1 million visitors.
This museum was built in 1925 and is home to around 700,000 Chinese imperial works of art and artifacts. The National Palace Museum shares a history with the Palace Museum in Beijing – the old Palace Museum split up after the Chinese Civil War and the formation of Republic of China of Taiwan.
Its collection includes paintings, ceramics, rare books, bronzes, calligraphy and much more.
18. Zhejiang Museum (Hangzhou, China)
Another of China’s entries on this list is the Zhejiang Museum. The venue saw a slight drop in attendance this year with 874 thousands visitors in 2022, a -6% drop from 2021’s 929 thousands visitors.
Having opened its doors in 1929, the Zhejiang is another of China’s oldest museums, and has over 100,000 items in its permanent collection. It expanded in 2009 by adding a new building in the West Lake Cultural Center. Its specimens include porcelain, woodenware, gold and silver coins, calligraphy and paintings.
19. Shanghai Science and Technology Museum (Shanghai, China)
China’s last entry on this list experienced a major drop in visitors from 2021’s 2.3 million to only 494 thousands visitors in 2022, a -79% decrease. The museum is located in Pudong, Shanghai, and has had a steady stream of visitors since opening its doors in December 2001.
The museum is home to artifacts related to people, nature and technology, and among its major permanent exhibitions are Earthcrust Exploration, World of Robots and Space Navigation.
20. American Museum of Natural History (New York, US)
The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) stopped providing the number of annual visitors since 2019. That year, the museum welcomed 5 million visitors, roughly the same number which visited in 2018.
Spanning 26 connected buildings and possessing 45 permanent exhibition halls (plus a planetarium and library!), the AMNH is one of the largest natural museums on the planet. It holds over 34 million specimens. The museum plans to spend over $380 million on an upcoming expansion project which will take up a quarter of an acre of the nearby Theodore Roosevelt Park.
