DCMS-sponsored museums and galleries saw over a million more visits between January and March than in the same period last year
Visits to the country’s museums and galleries are at a five year high, according to new quarterly figures from DCMS.
From January to March 2024, visits to 30 DCMS-sponsored museums and galleries – which include the likes of the British Museum, Young V&A, and Royal Armouries Leeds – totalled 9.9m.
Nearly 10 million visits equates to a 13% increase on 2023. The comparison is an important one, as 2023 and 2024 are the first two years since the pandemic which have not had visitor numbers directly skewed by lockdowns.
The improved visitor numbers have been in part bolstered by the re-opening of the National Portrait Gallery and debut opening of Young V&A, both of which happened after 2023’s first quarter.
The DCMS-sponsored museums and galleries included in the most recent data are:
| Museum of the Home | Locomotion |
| Horniman Museum (Excluding Visits To The Garden) | Science and Industry Museum |
| IWM London | National Coal Mining Museum |
| HMS Belfast (IWM) | National Portrait Gallery |
| Churchill War Rooms (IWM) | Royal Armouries Leeds |
| IWM Duxford | Royal Armouries Fort Nelson |
| IWM North | Royal Armouries White Tower |
| National Gallery | Sir John Soane’s Museum |
| NHM South Kensington | Tate Britain |
| NHM Tring | Tate Modern |
| Royal Museums Greenwich | Tate Liverpool |
| National Museums Liverpool | Tate St Ives |
| Science Museum | V&A South Kensington |
| National Science and Media Museum | Young V&A |
| National Railway Museum | V&A Blythe House |
Between last January and March 8.6m were recorded, as were 5.5m in 2022, none in 2021 and 8.8m in 2020.
National museum and gallery visits 27% lower than pre-pandemic levels
The upward trend paints a more positive picture of visitor numbers for the remainder of the year. Annual figures from DCMS for 2022/2023 were more than a quarter lower than before any lockdown restrictions were imposed.