Tate Modern, officially recognized as the world's most visited modern and contemporary art museum, is facing mounting criticism following reports of a budget deficit announced six months ago. While some critics are pointing fingers at the London museum's programming and curatorial strategies as the primary cause of declining visitor numbers, new research suggests the situation is far more complex, with Brexit and broader socioeconomic factors playing significant roles in the downturn.
According to The Art Newspaper's annual visitor report published in April, visitor numbers at all Tate institutions in 2024 were considerably lower than in 2019, which marked a year of record-high attendance. The statistics paint a concerning picture: Tate Modern experienced a 25 percent decrease in total visitors compared to pre-pandemic levels, while Tate Britain saw an even steeper decline of 32 percent. Tate St Ives faced nearly a 40 percent drop in attendance, and Tate Liverpool remains closed until 2027.
The decline in visitors has been particularly pronounced among international guests, with overseas attendance dropping to just 61 percent of pre-COVID levels, while domestic visitation has recovered more successfully to 95 percent of previous numbers. This disparity has prompted extensive research into the underlying causes of the visitor shortfall.
While critics have blamed Tate's exhibition programming for the decreased foot traffic, comprehensive research combining government statistics, university enrollment data, tourism figures, Arts Council and Art Fund surveys, and Tate's internal research reveals that external socioeconomic factors have had an equally significant, if not greater, impact on visitor numbers.
The most striking finding concerns the dramatic decline in young European visitors, particularly those aged 16 to 24, who represent a crucial demographic for art museums. Maria Balshaw, Tate's director, emphasized the severity of this trend, noting that Tate Modern alone welcomed 609,000 visitors from Europe in the 16-24 age bracket during 2019-20, but this number plummeted to just 357,000 in 2023-24.
'If you think about that age of person: they are profoundly affected by the combination of Brexit changing their educational and work opportunities and then COVID profoundly affecting the end of their studies and the way they choose to live their lives,' Balshaw explained. 'They are, in general, also traveling less.'
Liam Darbon, Tate's director of audiences and innovation, led a team that analyzed demographic shifts among the museum group's visitors over the past decade. Their findings revealed that these changes mirror broader demographic shifts among visitors to the UK as a whole. Darbon noted that young adults in the 16-25 and 16-35 age ranges are particularly important to art galleries, as this demographic tends to shift away from traditional 'museum museums' toward art gallery spaces.
The impact of Brexit on European visitation is supported by broader UK tourism data. According to the UK's Office of National Statistics, the number of EU visitors remained stable at approximately 24 million annually from 2015 to 2019. However, by 2023, this figure had fallen to around 22 million.
Ross Bennett-Cook, a travel and tourism expert at the University of Westminster, provided additional context for the decline in young visitors. 'Young people are facing the cost of living crisis a lot more than Boomers and older generations,' he told The Art Newspaper. 'Gen Z and Millennials are the group who face the biggest strain when it comes to travel.'
Despite the challenges, Tate Modern maintains its position as a global cultural destination. The museum still ranks as the world's fifth most visited art museum, trailing only the Louvre, Vatican Museums, the British Museum, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Tate Modern has held the distinction of being the most visited modern and contemporary art museum since 2014, with the exception of 2021 when both the Centre Pompidou in Paris and MoMA briefly surpassed it.
Tate Modern accounts for approximately three-quarters of the Tate group's total annual visitors, making its performance crucial to the organization's overall success. The museum's iconic Turbine Hall, which has housed memorable installations including Louise Bourgeois's massive spider sculpture 'Maman' (1999), continues to draw visitors from around the world.
Darbon emphasized that while the demographic shifts vary between different Tate locations, the pattern of declining young European visitors is noticeable across the entire museum group. This trend is particularly concerning given that visitors aged 16-24 account for one in six visitors to both Tate Modern and Tate Britain.
The research findings suggest that while programming and curatorial decisions may play a role in visitor engagement, the primary drivers of the attendance decline are external factors largely beyond the museum's direct control. The combination of Brexit's impact on travel and educational opportunities, the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on travel behavior, and the current cost-of-living crisis affecting young adults' discretionary spending has created a perfect storm of challenges for international museum visitation.
As Tate continues to navigate these challenges, the organization faces the complex task of addressing both internal programming strategies and external factors that influence visitor behavior. The comprehensive research provides valuable insights into the multifaceted nature of the decline, suggesting that solutions will need to address both curatorial approaches and broader accessibility issues affecting international visitors, particularly young Europeans who have historically been such an important part of the museum's audience.
