2. HNWI Spending on Art

Despite the uncertain economic environment in 2024 and 2025, HNWIs spent a substantial amount on art and antiques. Average spending in 2024 was $438,990 across an average of 14 works, with women spending 46% more than men. Ten percent spent over $500,000 and 7% spent over $1 million in 2024, with similar levels in the first half of 2025. Median expenditure in the first half of 2025 ($22,000) almost matched the full-year 2024 median ($24,000), indicating continued activity by collectors across a range of price segments.

Boomers were the smallest segment in the sample, but reported the highest average spending in 2024 at nearly $993,000, followed by millennials at $523,000. Women outspent men in both the Gen Z and millennial segments, while the reverse was true for Gen X and boomers. The highest spending by a considerable margin was from collectors in Mainland China, driven primarily by women whose averages were over twice that of men.

HNWIs diversified their spending in 2024 and 2025, buying across a wide range of mediums, artists, and collecting categories. Fine art was a key segment of expenditure, with 78% of the sample having purchased a work of fine art in 2024 and 74% in the first half of 2025. Paintings remained the most-purchased medium and the largest by value, accounting for 27% of total fine art spending in 2024. While the share of respondents buying paintings was down on 2023, other segments such as sculptures, photography, and digital art saw higher take-up. Boomers were the most active buyers of paintings; Gen Z collectors were the most active in digital art, and film and video art; and millennials in prints, photography, and works on paper.

Digital art saw the biggest uplift in participation and spending. Just over half (51%) of the HNWIs surveyed had bought a digital artwork in 2024/2025, and the medium ranked third in terms of spending, almost on par with sculptures (both at 14%). Despite being characterized as risk-averse in certain areas of spending and investment, female collectors allocated a lower share of spending to traditional mediums such as paintings than men, and had higher shares of digital art and photography.

HNWIs’ openness to new discoveries rose, with 66% buying works by artists they had discovered for the first time in 2024/2025 (up 8% year-on-year and from a low of 43% in 2022). A higher share of women were open to buying newly discovered artists (69%) than men (63%). Across 2024 and the first half of 2025, there was a more diversified range of spending than the previous survey: 35% on works by new and emerging artists (down 17% year-on-year), 21% on mid-career artists, and 44% on established artists (up by 18%).

Women were much more likely to buy a work by an unknown artist. Fifty-five percent of women reported buying works by unknown artists frequently or often (versus 44% of men), despite just over half of all respondents (52%) viewing this as a high-risk purchase. In other words, while women are equally aware of the risks (and have a level of risk aversion on par with men), they still judge it as a risk worth taking when adding artworks to their collections.

Women collected more – and spent more on – works by female artists­. HNWIs’ collections remained dominated by male artists, with 44% of the works they owned being by female artists (up from 33% in 2018). Female collectors came close to gender parity in their holdings: 49% of the works in their collections were by female artists, compared with 40% in men’s. Women also spent more than men on works by female artists, averaging 47% of spending in 2024/2025, versus 41% for men. Gen Z collectors spent more on works by women artists (45%) than their older peers, with boomers at 25%. As wealth shifts vertically and horizontally, these trends could encourage more balance in the diversity of collections in future.

Despite a slowdown in some lower-end luxury segments, spending by HNWIs maintained pace across collectibles markets in 2025. Considering combined spending on art and collectibles in 2025, 59% was on fine art, decorative art, and antiques and 41% on collectibles (including 10% on jewelry and gems, and 7% on classic cars, boats, and jets). Gen Z had the highest share of spending on collectibles (56% in 2025). Boomers were highest in fine art, antiques, and watches; millennials led in decorative art, design, and jewelry and gems. Gen Z had the highest averages in most other sectors including luxury collectible handbags; collectible sneakers (almost five times the level of any other generational group); classic cars, boats, and jets; and sports assets.