Official Statistics

DCMS-sponsored museums and galleries annual performance indicators 2021/22: headline release

Published 8 March 2023

Applies to England

1. Details

Release date: 8 March 2023

Next release : 2023/24

Geographic Coverage: United Kingdom

Responsible statistician: Zoe Kimber

This release presents the annual performance indicator data collected by DCMS-sponsored museums and galleries for the financial year 2021/22 at the national level for England. Though annual performance indicators were likely to have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, the data was still collected in order to remain transparent and to preserve national records. Data for individual museums and galleries are available in the accompanying tables.

The 15 DCMS-sponsored museums and galleries are:

• British Museum
• Museum of the Home
• Horniman Museum
• Imperial War Museums
• National Gallery
• National Museums Liverpool
• National Portrait Gallery
• Natural History Museum
• Royal Armouries
• Royal Museums Greenwich
• Science Museum Group
• Sir John Soane’s Museum
• Tate Gallery Group
• Victoria and Albert Museum^{[footnote 1]}
• The Wallace Collection

The performance indicators used in this publication of DCMS-Sponsored Museums and Galleries Performance Indicators Statistics 2020/21 are:

Access

• Number of visits to the museum/gallery
• Number of unique website visitors

Audience profile

• Number of visits by children under 16
• Number of overseas visits

Learning and outreach

• Number of facilitated and self-directed visits to the museum/gallery by visitors under 18 in formal education
• Number of instances of visitors under 18 participating in on-site organised activities

Visitor satisfaction

• Percentage of visitors who would recommend a visit

Regional engagement

• Number of UK loan venues

Self-generated income

• Self-generated income - admissions
• Self-generated income - trading income
• Self-generated income - Charitable giving (fundraising/contributed income)

Definitions for a selection of these indicators are available in the Glossary.

Data collection methods vary between institutions and performance indicators. DCMS does not prescribe any particular collection method but provides the flexibility for museums and galleries to adopt a cost efficient data collection approach. Additional information on how the data are collected is available in the Performance Indicator Guidance.

Caution is advised when making year on year comparisons due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, and associated restrictions, on visitor numbers:

• 2019/20 data was affected by the closure of museums and galleries from 17 March 2020, as coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions were introduced.

• 2020/21 data was affected by the continuation and evolution of the coronavirus (COVID-19) rules, which in practice meant museums were regularly closed during this period. In periods where museums were open (for example most were open from 4 July to 5 November 2020), this was done under social distancing rules and limited capacity.

• 2021/22 data was affected by the easing of COVID-19 rules during spring and early summer 2021 (all legal restrictions were removed from 19 July 2022), plus the reimposition of some restrictions in December 2021 until February 2022. Additionally, some museums maintained their own rules around ticketed entry times and face coverings

2. Headline findings

2.1 Access to DCMS-sponsored museums and galleries

Between April 2021 and March 2022, there were 17.1 ^{[footnote 2]} million visits to DCMS-sponsored museums and galleries ^{[footnote 3]}, a decrease of 64% from 48.2 million in 2018/19 (the latest financial year completely unaffected by the pandemic) (Figure 1), but is nearly 7 times larger than in 2020/21 (2.6 million).

Total visitor figures were relatively stable between 2015/16 and 2018/19, peaking at 49.8 million in 2018/19, the last year wholly unaffected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The fall in visitor figures can be at least partly attributed to the effects and response to the Covid-19 pandemic which required the closure of all museums and galleries during lockdowns; restricted international travel, and reduced the opening hours and capacity of museums and galleries (when the lockdowns ended).

In particular, in 2021/22:

• From April 12 2021, some museum gardens and outdoor sites reopened. Visits to indoor museum sites remained closed meaning most museums recorded no visitors in this period.
• Museums reopened more fully from 17 May 2021 with some restrictions remaining in place (‘Rule of six’ or two households attending museums).
• 19 July 2021 marked the end of all legal restrictions.
• 8 December PM announces a move to ‘Plan B’ measures in England following the spread of the Omicron variant, with face masks becoming compulsory in museums from 10 December.
• Plan B restrictions were removed on 27 January 2022.

FIGURE 1: Total number of visits to DCMS-sponsored museums and galleries, 2002/03 to 2021/22

Key - - - break in time series

Visitor numbers to DCMS-sponsored museums and galleries outside London made up 20% of the total visits in 2021/22, this is a decrease of 3 percentage points since 2018/19 when visits outside of London made up 23% of total visits.

• In 2021/22, there were nearly 3.5 million visits to DCMS-sponsored museums and galleries outside of London, a decrease of 68% from 11.0 million  visits in 2018/19.
• In 2021/22, there were approximately 13.6 million visits to DCMS-sponsored museums and galleries within London, a decrease of 63% from 37.1 million visits in 2018/19.

A list of the DCMS-sponsored museums and galleries located outside London can be found in the strategic review of DCMS-sponsored museums, page 23.

Child Visitors

In 2021/22 there were approximately 3.2 million ^{[footnote 4]} visits by children (under 16) to DCMS-sponsored museums and galleries, accounting for 19% of all visits. This was:

• 2 percentage points higher, but 62% lower in absolute terms than 2018/19, which saw 8.3 million visits by children under 16, which was 17% of total visits.
• 2 percentage points lower, but nearly six times larger lower in absolute terms than 2020/21, which saw 0.6 million visits by children under 16, which was 21% of total visits

Overseas visitors

In 2021/22 there were an estimated 1.3 million ^{[footnote 4]} visits by overseas residents to DCMS-sponsored museums and galleries, a 94% decrease from 22.7 million in 2018/19 but is nearly 23 times higher than in 2020/21 when there were 54,000 overseas visits.

The decrease in overseas visitors to museums mirrors the decrease in overseas visitors to the UK. Annual travel estimates ^{[footnote 5]} show that overseas residents made 10.0 million visits to the UK in 2021/22; this was a 75% decrease from 40.0 million in 2018/19.

The significant decrease in overseas visitors goes some of the way to explain the reduction in total visitor figures between 2018/19 and 2021/22, though it is worth noting there was a 38% decrease in domestic visitors too (which will be at least partly related to pandemic restrictions in 2020 and 2021). This is illustrated in Figure 2.

FIGURE 2: Total number of overseas and domestic visits to DCMS-sponsored museums and galleries, 2018/19 to 2021/22

Website Visits

In 2021/22, there were a total of 136.8 million unique website visits to DCMS sponsored Museum websites, the highest recorded since records began. This is an increase of 18% from 116.4 million in 2020/21 and an increase of 11% since 2018/19 (the last year completely unaffected by pandemic) when there were 123.2 million unique website visits.

2.2 Learning and outreach

Number of instances of visitors under 18 participating in on-site organised activities

In 2021/22 there were approximately 705,000 ^{[footnote 6]} visits to DCMS-sponsored museums and galleries where visitors under the age of 18 participated in onsite organised activities. This is a decrease of 74% from nearly 2.7 million in 2018/19, however it is nearly 10 times higher than in 2020/21 when there were around 74,000 visits.

Number of facilitated and self-directed visits to the museum/gallery by visitors under 18 in formal education

There were approximately 393,000 ^{[footnote 7]} facilitated and self-directed visits by visitors under 18 and in formal education in 2021/22, a decrease of 81% from over 2 million in 2018/19, but higher when compared to 2020/21 when there were around 2,000 visits.

2.3 Visitor satisfaction

In 2021/22 an average of 91.1% of visitors reported that they would recommend a visit to the DCMS-sponsored museums and galleries. This is only slightly lower than 91.6% in 2020/21. However, it has decreased around  5 percentage points since before the pandemic in 2018/19 from 96.3%. It is worth being aware that as there were many fewer visitors, this will be based on the views of a smaller number of people than usual.

2.4 Regional Engagement

UK loan venues

In 2021/22 DCMS-sponsored museums and galleries loaned their items to 1095  venues in the UK, a decrease of 19% from 1348 in 2018/19 and an increase of 1% from 1086 in 2020/21. This reflects the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the capacity of partners or potential partners to enter into projects, both at international and regional locations, due to lockdowns, capacity restrictions and reduced staffing levels. ^{[footnote 8]}

Museums and galleries can loan items from their collections to institutions, organisations, exhibition facilities, or individual researchers. “By lending their collections, the national museums engage new audiences, impact on a wide range of social outcomes and support the wider museum sector.” ^{[footnote 9]}

2.5 Self-generated Income

In 2021/22, the total self-generated income for DCMS-sponsored museums and galleries amounted to over £246 million, an increase of over 50% from £160.3 million in 2020/21 but still 15% lower than pre-pandemic in 2018/19 when it was nearly £290 million. This consisted of:

• £168.3 million (68% of total) from fundraising/contributed income, an increase of 23% from around £137.0 million in 2020/21 but a decrease of 9% from 185.7 million in 2018/2019.
• £31.8 million (13% of total) admissions, over double the amount received 2020/21(£13.5 million) but a decrease of 46% from £58.8 million in 2018/19, pre-pandemic.
• A trading net profit of £46.2 million (19% of total) which is around over 3.5 times higher than in 2020/21 (£9.8 million) and an increase of 2% from £45.4 million in 2018/19.

Please note that parts do not sum to total due to rounding.

The total self-generated income for DCMS-sponsored museums and galleries is made up of fundraising, admissions income and trading net profit.

DCMS publishes a separate report on Total income of DCMS-funded cultural organisations, the next edition, covering the 2021/22 financial year, will be published on 8 March 2023.

3. Glossary

3.1 Number of instances of visitors under 18 participating in on-site organised activities

Organised activities refer to pre-planned, mediated activities, such as talks, lectures, courses, demonstrations, guided tours etc led by museum staff, volunteers or freelancers employed by the museum. The measure is asking for the number of participations by children, as distinct from the number of children participating.

3.2 Facilitated and self-directed visits

A facilitated visit is a group visit to a museum/gallery that is led or heavily supported by a member of staff (including volunteers) or a person hired by the museum e.g. an artist, for at least part of the visit. A facilitated visit is one that has been planned and structured by teachers and museum/gallery staff to support the curriculum, with specific learning outcomes.

A self-directed visit is a group visit facilitated by a person who is not a member of the museum/gallery staff.

3.3 Visitor Satisfaction

The proportion of visitors who would recommend a visit is defined as those who answered ‘How likely are you to recommend a visit to your friends or family’ with ‘definitely will’ or ‘probably will’.

3.4 Loan venue

A loan venue is defined as any approved borrowing institution, organisation, exhibition facility, or individual researcher who has been loaned an item from one of the DCMS-sponsored museums and galleries. Loaning items from permanent collections is not practical for every museum or gallery.

For more detail on museum partnership activities see the museum partnership report.

4. Further information

Sponsored Museums: Performance Indicators is an Official Statistic and has been produced to the standards set out in the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. Additional information is available here.

The data are collected by the museums through sample surveys, with the exception of the information on physical visits and website visits, which are based on actual counts.

For enquiries on this release, please contact evidence@dcms.gov.uk

DCMS statisticians can also be followed on Twitter via @DCMSInsight.

For general enquiries contact:

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

100 Parliament Street

London

SW1A 2BQ

Telephone: 020 7211 2210.

Email: enquiries@dcms.gov.uk

1. The V&A museum site in Dundee is operated as a separate charity to the main V&A museum group. As such, its figures are excluded from this publication and data set. ↩

2. When calculating percentage changes between 2021/22, and 2018/19 or 2020/21, the Museum of the Home and the National Portrait Gallery have been excluded. The Museum of the Home closed from 7 January 2018 to commence its capital refurbishment project and reopened on 12 June 2021. The National Portrait Gallery closed on 17 March 2020 due to Covid-19 lockdown measures alongside other sponsored museums and galleries. The museum did not reopen on 4 July 2020 as it began its redevelopment project in June 2020, which will be completed in 2023. ↩

3. The latest statistics on the monthly and quarterly visitor figures for each DCMS-sponsored museum or gallery can be accessed from the Museum and galleries monthly visits webpage. ↩

4. When calculating proportions of total visits for visitor sub-groups (child and overseas visitors), the Museum of the Home and the National Portrait Gallery have been excluded because were both closed throughout the reporting period. The National Coal Mining Museum England has also been excluded because only total visitor numbers are collected and not disaggregations by visitor characteristics. ↩ ↩²

5. ONS (2022) Overseas travel and tourism: January to March 2022 ↩

6. Figures and percentage changes from the Museum of the Home and the National Portrait Gallery have been excluded from educational visits, where under 18 year old visitors participated in onsite organised activities, because were both closed throughout the reporting period. ↩

7. Figures and percentage changes from the Museum of the Home and the National Portrait Gallery have been excluded from the visitor satisfaction indicator because they were both closed throughout the reporting period. ↩

8. Understanding the National Museums’ Partnership activities in 2020/21 ↩

9. Museums Partnership Report: Sharing Collections 2019/20 ↩