Oct 8 (Reuters) – Wealthy Gen Z collectors spend far more on fine art than purchasers from any other generation, according to a report published on Thursday by Art Basel and Swiss bank UBS.
A survey of 3,100 wealthy buyers from across 10 major markets showed individuals from Gen Z – the youngest adult generation – spent more than twice as much on artworks as those from older generations during 2025 and the first half of this year.
The study, which defined Gen Z as people aged between 20 and 29, showed the second-biggest spenders were Baby Boomers in the 62 to 80 age bracket. Millennials (aged 30 to 45) were next, with wealthy Gen X respondents (aged 46 to 61) the most frugal in their art spending.
On average, the individual Gen Z collectors polled spent $347,000 on fine art last year, compared to just $79,000 among their Gen X counterparts. Some 40% of the Gen Z respondents cited the influence of family as their primary route into collecting.
Still, tastes hold.
Younger collectors continue to favour traditional categories such as painting and sculpture, Paul Donovan, chief economist at UBS Global Wealth Management, said in the report.
“Some aesthetic preferences remain more consistent across generations than is often assumed,” Donovan said.
The survey also found that almost half the respondents gave preference to an artwork’s uniqueness and rarity over owning something admired by experts or collectors.
The respondents were high-net-worth individuals, which the survey defined as people with a net worth, excluding real estate and private business assets, of over $1 million in 2026.
The report also highlighted rising usage of AI tools for research purchases, as the number of collectors using them has increased from 4% in 2024 to 22% now.
(Reporting by Javi West Larrañaga in GdanskEditing by Dave Graham and Toby Chopra)
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