In 2024, over four million people experienced the National Gallery in person, a 15% increase from 2023. 4,713,519 visits were recorded for the Gallery and its exhibitions and creative programs. The gallery released these figures ahead of the close of its 200th-anniversary celebrations, which include the reopening of the Sainsbury Wing and the unveiling of the largest-ever rehang of its collection, C C Land: The Wonder of Art, on May 10.
Highlights of the year included Van Gogh: Poets and Lovers (September 14, 2024 – January 19, 2025), the Gallery’s most successful ticketed exhibition with 334,589 visits; The Last Caravaggio, which drew 286,298 visits, making it the 11th most visited exhibition in the Gallery’s history; and NG Stories: Making a National Gallery, an immersive and interactive experience that attracted 166,052 visits.
The National Treasures tour, held from May to September 2024, brought 724,812 visits across 12 locations, ensuring over half of the UK population was within an hour’s journey of a National Gallery painting. Additionally, 39,189 visits were recorded for the Parliament Visits, where Claude’s seaport with the Embarkation of Saint Ursula—one of the first paintings acquired by the Gallery—was displayed in St Stephen’s all at the Palace of Westminster for three weeks (November 25 – December 15, 2024) to celebrate the Gallery’s 200th anniversary. The Art Road Trip, part of the Gallery’sG200 travelling art studio program, engaged 10,798 people.
The Masterpieces from the National Gallery exhibition tour in Asia, held at the Hong Kong Palace Museum (November 22, 2023 – April 11, 2024) and the Taiwan Chimei Museum (May 2—September 1, 2024), attracted 662,068 visits. The total number of visits for the Asia tour reached 1,443,934, more than double the attendance of the Gallery’s previous tours in Japan and Australia.
Of the 3,203,451 visits to the Gallery, 97,172 were by school students and teachers. The free outdoor festival Summer on the Square (August 1 – September 1, 2024), featuring Take One Picture—an annual exhibition of art created by schoolchildren inspired by a Gallery painting—drew 32,743 visits, a 26% increase from 2023. The Articulation Prize, a yearly event for 16- to 19-year-olds to present on art, architecture, or artefacts, saw 40,458 visits by students, teachers, alums, and partners, an increase of 8,418 from 2023.
The Gallery’s digital and social media platforms, including online exhibitions, talks, courses, and website visits, garnered over 159 million views from January 1 to December 31, 2024, a 106% rise from the previous year. This included 95.8 million video views (up 58% from 2023) and 7.4 million engagements across Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and YouTube. The GaGallery’sebsite received 14.2 million visits, a 25% increase (2.8 million more than in 2023).
The Gallery’s Creators Network and 20 Creative Collaborators generated over 39.8 million views and 2.2 million engagements across the Gallery’s creators’ channels, reaching new and diverse online audiences globally. This pioneering social media initiative allowed digital content creators to participate in the Gallery’sicentenary through exclusive events and access to its collection, exhibitions, and behind-the-scenes activities. As part of the program, 20 Creative Collaborators were commissioned to produce new digital content related to the Gallery and its initiatives.
These figures were released as the Gallery celebrated its bicentenary with a wide-ranging program marking its 200th anniversary in 2024, spanning the UK, international locations, and its home in London’s Trafalgar Square.
Sir Gabriele Finaldi, Director of the National Gallery, commented: “The National Gallery remains committed to its founding mission of connecting people with great art. We have engaged countless individuals through our collection, exhibitions in London and across the UK, and the highly successful Asia tour. Our digital and social media platforms, including online exhibitions, courses, and apps, have expanded our global reach. We eagerly anticipate welcoming even more visitors with the opening of The Wonder of Art and the newly refurbished Sainsbury Wing in Trafalgar Square, as well as the many activities planned for this summer across Britain and Northern Ireland, including the Art Road Trip and Jeremy Deller’s The Triumph of Art.”
Top Photo: P C Robinson © Artlyst 2025