Wealthy Gen Z art collectors spent an average of $347,460 on fine art in 2025, more than double the average outlay of any older generation surveyed, according to the Survey of Global Collecting released by Art Basel and UBS. The figure marks a 19% jump from the previous year and sits in sharp contrast to the full-sample average of $124,265, which itself rose 13% from 2024.
The survey, produced by Arts Economics and authored by Clare McAndrew, polled 3,100 high-net-worth individuals, each holding at least $1 million in personal net wealth excluding real estate and assets tied to privately held businesses. Respondents aged 20 to 29, classified as Gen Z, made up 9% of the sample, or 279 people. Their spending habits turned out to be the standout finding of the entire report.
The Numbers Behind Gen Z Art Collectors
The data shows Gen Z collectors did not just keep pace with other age groups. They pulled ahead by a wide margin, and the trend accelerated into 2026.
- Average Gen Z spending on art in 2025: $347,460, up 19% year over year
- Average spending across all respondents in 2025: $124,265, up 13% year over year
- Gen Z average spending in the first half of 2026 alone already exceeded their full-year 2025 average
- Just 1% of all collectors bought a work priced above $1 million in 2025 and the first half of 2026, and Gen Z accounted for nearly half of those buyers
- In the first half of 2026, 13% of Gen Z collectors reported spending more than $1 million on fine art, compared with 3% of respondents overall
What The Figures Mean For Younger Collectors
For fans of the art world watching younger buyers enter the market, the message is straightforward: Gen Z collectors are not dabbling. They are spending at a scale that outpaces every other generation in the survey, and they are doing it by buying fewer but pricier works rather than simply buying more art.
The survey notes that the number of works purchased was broadly similar across generations. That detail matters because it isolates the real driver of Gen Z’s outsized spending: a willingness to pay significantly more per piece rather than accumulate a larger collection.
Family wealth appears to play a large role in that purchasing power. Among all respondents, 15% said their wealth came primarily from family-related sources, but that share jumped to 37% among Gen Z collectors specifically. Family influence also shaped how many of them got into collecting in the first place, with 40% of Gen Z respondents crediting family encouragement, compared with 28% across the full sample.
Context: A Generation Written Off Too Soon
The findings run counter to a narrative that has circulated in the art world for years, one that painted Gen Z as disengaged from traditional collecting in favor of other pursuits. McAndrew, founder of Arts Economics, addressed that assumption directly in comments to The Art Newspaper.
“It’s always interesting when you have a notion or an idea going in, and it just gets completely disproved,” McAndrew said.
She expanded on that point, noting how far the data diverged from common perception. “So many people are saying that younger collectors are not so engaged or not really interested, and they’re not focusing on art, or they’re just buying a load of other stuff. Whereas this survey showed very much a different picture, that they were among the most engaged of all the different age brackets, and the spending levels were pretty amazing,” McAndrew told The Art Newspaper.
The survey also found that Gen Z collectors show a strong interest in building community around collecting and in bringing peers into the practice. That engagement extends to how they shop. A growing share of buyers across the survey, including younger collectors, are skipping dealers and auction houses entirely to purchase work directly from artists.
What’s Next
The Survey of Global Collecting from Art Basel and UBS captures spending through the first half of 2026, and the full-year figures for that period have not yet been reported. Given that Gen Z collectors already surpassed their 2025 annual average in just six months, the next release of data will show whether that pace held through the rest of the year.
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