Metropolitan Museum of Art (Photo: ubeyonroad via Unsplash)
The latest rankings of the world’s most visited museums in 2025 show a clear shift in global cultural influence. While the Louvre Museum in Paris remains firmly in the top spot, institutions across Asia are rapidly rising, new museums are drawing massive crowds, and audience expectations are reshaping what a museum visit looks like today.
In an annual visitor-numbers survey compiled by The Art Newspaper, the figures show that the Louvre continues to lead with around 9 million visitors, reinforcing its status as a cultural landmark. Coming in second place with 6.9 million visitors is the Vatican Museums in Vatican City. But beyond these familiar frontrunners, the data reveals an evolving museum landscape.
The Museo Nacional de Antropología in Mexico City, for instance, had 5 million visitors in 2025—a 36% increase over its 2024 patronage. A larger trend that can be gleaned from this data is that museums across Asia are climbing the rankings, reshaping the geography of global culture. Leading this shift is the National Museum of Korea in Seoul, which is third overall with 6.5 million visitors in 2025. This is a more than 70% increase from 2024, when the museum had about 3.8 million visitors. The Art Newspaper points out that other branches of the National Museum throughout Korea have also experienced a significant increase in attendance. They theorize that worldwide interest in Korean culture may be a contributing factor.
Another Asian museum within the top 10 and doing better than the prior year is the Shanghai Museum East. It debuted in 2024 with 4.2 million visitors but has gained more foot traffic in 2025 with about 4.5 million visitors. Other major state-funded institutions also continue to expand their reach through large-scale exhibitions and free admission policies. Japan is seeing similar momentum. The Tokyo National Museum (2.58 million visitors) and new contemporary spaces like teamLab Planets TOKYO (2.52 million visitors) are benefiting from both domestic tourism and international interest.
Even as Asia rises, major Western institutions remain deeply influential. The British Museum (6.4 million visitors) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art (5.9 million visitors) continue to rank among the most visited globally, drawing millions with their encyclopedic collections and blockbuster exhibitions.
The 2025 rankings point to a broader expansion of the global museum landscape. Institutions are no longer defined solely by their collections, but by how effectively they engage increasingly diverse and mobile audiences. As museums continue to evolve the distinction between destination, experience, and cultural institution, it becomes less fixed. The world’s most visited museums are not just preserving history—they are actively shaping how it is encountered.
You can see the full list of the world’s 100 most visited museums compiled on Airtable.
A list of the world’s 100 most visited museums in 2025 was unveiled and the Louvre came in first with around 9 million visitors.
Louvre Museum (Photo: Courtney Cook via Unsplash)
The Vatican Museums came in second, welcoming 6.9 million visitors.
Crowd of tourists walking through the Vatican Museums (Photo: IgorVetushko/Depositphotos)
The National Museum of Korea in Seoul came in third with 6.5 million visitors, up by more than 70% from the previous year.
National Museum of Korea (Photo: [email protected]/Depositphotos)
The British Museum was close behind with 6.4 million visitors.
The British Museum (Photo: Rabih Ramadan via Unsplash)
And the Metropolitan Museum of Art rounded out the top 5 with about 5.9 million visitors.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Photo: bloodua/Depositphotos)
Sources: Exclusive | The world’s 100 most visited art museums in 2025: new venues a big hit with visitors
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