The report from KRO, the Artists' National Organization, examines the Swedish art industry with the aim of describing the current state of the art sales. The report shows that the number of galleries, where art is primarily sold, and art dealers operating in the secondary market are declining.
This is a trend that has been going on since 2011, when there were 916 galleries and art dealers. Today the figure has dropped to 752, a decrease of about 18 percent. A majority of the businesses that have disappeared have had zero employees, and are thus run by a single entrepreneur.
At the same time, the average annual turnover for active galleries and art dealers has increased slightly.
One trend that is on the rise is the use of digital platforms for the sale of art. According to KRO, 32 such platforms have been identified, ten of which are Swedish. Over the past four years, six of the Swedish digital sales platforms have been started and their sales have increased significantly every year.