Which Museum Drew More Visitors Than Any Other in the World Last Year?

01.11.2026 19:30

POLITIS TEAM

The Louvre is Europe’s most-visited museum and fourth worldwide, while China claims 12 of the top 20 places.

Five of the world’s 20 most-visited museums are in Europe, according to the latest annual index by the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA), which looks back at visitor numbers for 2025. The Louvre in Paris is Europe’s most popular museum, ranking fourth worldwide with around nine million visitors. Top of the list is Beijing’s Palace Museum, which welcomed 19 million people last year.

China takes 12 of the top 20 places

China dominated the global ranking with 12 entries, including first place. The TEA attributed this to the country’s large domestic audience and to the fact that 91% of its 7,188 registered museums offer free entry.

Of the remaining eight places, France, the UK and South Korea have two each, while the US and Vatican City have one each.

The world’s 20 most-visited museums in 2025

Palace Museum, Beijing, China: 19,000,000
Summer Palace, Beijing, China: 17,381,000
Emperor Qin Shihuang’s Mausoleum Site Museum, Xi’an, China: 10,970,000
Musée du Louvre, Paris, France: 9,046,000
Palace of Versailles, France: 8,400,000
Shenzhen Nanshan District Museum, Shenzhen, China: 7,455,000
Natural History Museum, London, UK: 7,117,000
Vatican Museums, Vatican City: 6,934,000
Opium War Museum, Dongguan, China: 6,929,000
National Museum of China, Beijing, China: 6,900,000
Gyeongbokgung Palace, Seoul, South Korea: 6,887,000
National Museum of Korea, Seoul, South Korea: 6,507,000
British Museum, London, UK: 6,440,000
Prince Kung’s Mansion Museum, Beijing, China: 6,120,000
Sanxingdui Museum, Guanghan, China: 6,080,000
Chengdu Wuhou Shrine Museum, Chengdu, China: 6,030,000
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, US: 5,984,000
Nanjing Museum, Nanjing, China: 5,860,000
Shenyang Palace Museum, Shenyang, China: 5,852,000
China Science and Technology Museum, Beijing, China: 5,530,000

Europe’s leading museums

France, the world’s most-visited country, is home to Europe’s top museum, the Louvre, with nine million visitors in 2025. In fifth place worldwide is another French entry, the Palace of Versailles, with 8.4 million visitors.

London’s Natural History Museum came seventh with 7.1 million visitors, followed by the Vatican Museums with 6.9 million. The fifth European entry is the British Museum in London, in 13th place with 6.44 million visitors.

On continental Europe, the report notes that attendance remained high and relatively stable, as most major museums completed their post-pandemic recovery.

Several UK museums saw significant growth thanks to new exhibitions or wings, such as the Sainsbury Wing at the National Gallery and Our Story with David Attenborough at the Natural History Museum.