LONDON.- Over four million people saw a National Gallery painting in person in 2024 - wherever in the world they were - on display, up 15% on 2023.

4,713,519 visits were made in person in 2024 to the National Gallery, London, and to its exhibitions, displays and other creative programmes on tour. *

The figures were announced by the Gallery today ahead of the culmination of the Gallery’s 200th Anniversary activities including the reopening of the Sainsbury Wing and the unveiling of the biggest-ever rehang of the Gallery’s collection – 'C C Land: The Wonder of Art' – on 10 May.


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3,203,451 visits were made to the National Gallery in London during 2024 (that is an increase of 3% on the 2023 figure of 3,096,508.)

The visits to Trafalgar Square included 1,444,833 made to exhibitions – up 19% on 2023 – including Van Gogh: Poets and Lovers (14 September 2024 – 19 January 2025), the most successful ticketed exhibition in the Gallery’s history with 334,589 visits, The Last Caravaggio with 286,298 visits the 11th most visited of all time, and 166,052 visits to the immersive and interactive experience NG Stories: Making a National Gallery.

724,812 visits were made in total to the National Treasures tour (May – September 2024), in which more than half of the UK population was within an hour’s journey of one of 12 National Gallery paintings.

39,189 visits were made to Parliament Visits in which Claude's Seaport with the Embarkation of Saint Ursula, one of the first paintings to enter the Gallery’s picture collection, and purchased by Parliament, was displayed to the public in St Stephen's Hall in the Palace of Westminster for three weeks (25 November – 15 December 2024), to celebrate the Gallery’s 200th anniversary. And 10,798 people engaged with the Gallery’s NG200 travelling art studio programme Art Road Trip.

662,068 visits were made to 'Masterpieces from the National Gallery', the exhibition tour of Asia (Hong Kong Palace Museum, 22 November 2023 – 11 April 2024; Taiwan Chimei Museum 2 May – 1 September 2024). The total visits count for the Asia tour is 1,443,934 (more than double the number of visits to the Gallery’s previous tour of Japan and Australia.)

Of the 3,203,451 visits to the Gallery, 97,172 were made by school students and teachers. The Gallery’s free outdoor festival of art Summer on the Square (1 August – 1 September 2024), incorporating Take One Picture, the annual free exhibition of art created by school children in response to a Gallery painting, attracted 32,743 visits (an increase of 26% compared to 2023.)

40,458 visits were made by students and teachers, alumni and partners to the Gallery and other venues engaged in the annual Articulation Prize, up 8,418 on 2023. This is organised by the Gallery for those aged between 16 and 19 who deliver a 10-minute presentation to an audience about a work of art, architecture or an artefact in a museum or gallery setting.

The Gallery’s digital and social media, including online exhibitions, talks and courses, and visits to the website, attracted just over 159 million views from 1 January to 31 December 2024, up 106% on last year. These include 95.8 million video views, up 58% on 2023, and 7.4 million engagements across Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and YouTube; and 14.2 million visits made on the Gallery’s website in 2024, an increase of 25% (up 2.8 million on 2023.)

The Gallery’s 200 Creators Network and the 20 Creative Collaborators have generated over 39.8 million views and 2.2 million engagements, across both the Gallery’s and the creator’s channels, attracting new and hard to reach online audiences across the globe. This social media network, the first of its kind in the sector, has given digital content creators the chance to participate in the Gallery’s Bicentenary through exclusive events and access to the Gallery’s collection, exhibitions and behind-the-scenes work. As part of the programme, 20 ‘Creative Collaborators’ were commissioned to create new digital content for their audience related to the Gallery and its activities.

The figures are published as the Gallery celebrates its Bicentenary with a wide-ranging programme to mark the 200th anniversary in 2024 of the Gallery’s foundation taking place across the UK, around the world, and at the Gallery’s home in London’s Trafalgar Square.

Sir Gabriele Finaldi, Director of the National Gallery, London, says: ‘The National Gallery continues to build on its founding principles of bringing people and great art together. Through our collection, our exhibitions in London, throughout the UK as well as the hugely popular exhibition tour in Asia – many people have engaged with the Gallery. Our digital and social media platforms including online exhibitions and courses and apps have brought us to an even bigger global audience. We look forward to sharing the National Gallery with more and more people as we head to the exciting opening in Trafalgar Square of 'CC Land: The Wonder of Art' and the newly refurbished Sainsbury Wing - and to the many activities this summer around Britain and Northern Ireland including the 'Art Road Trip' and Jeremy Deller’s 'The Triumph of Art'.

* These figures do not include single loans to non-National Gallery organised or partnered exhibitions or displays internationally and in the UK.


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