The landmark of Paris regained its position from 2015, and was closely followed by the National Museum of China in Beijing
The Louvre is back. With more than 8.1 million visitors last year the major monument of the City of Love has regained its position as the most popular museum on Earth.
According to the 12th annual Theme Index and Museum Index, which compares museum visits around the globe, the venerable museum featuring masterpieces such as the Venus de Milo and Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa reflects the recovery of tourism to Paris in 2017.
“In 2017 tourism recovered in Paris, which had been beset the two prior years by bad weather and possible security fears. This recovery in tourism numbers and the exhibition Vermeer and the Masters of Genre Painting were the likely drivers of the increase in attendance at the Louvre of 9.5 per cent, restoring it to its former position of the top-attended museum in the world,” the Theme Index and Museum Index said in a report.
The Louvre was closely followed by National Museum of China in Beijing that ranked number one in 2016. More than 8 million people visited the institution in 2017 which underlines the significant growth of tourism in the region. More than a third of the 20 most popular museums in the world are located in China.
“Museums in Asia recorded the fastest growth in the 2017 Museum Index, at over 11 per cent year-on-year. Chinese museums dominated our Museum Index for this region, with seven of the Top 20 museums located in China and the newly opened Chengdu Museum entering the Index for the first time with 3 million visitors,” the report said.
With both the National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. and New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art having 7 million visitors in 2017, brought third place to the United States.
Globally, the index suggests a growth of 0.2 per cent in the visits of the top 20 world’s museums in 2017. Together the museums examined welcomed 108 million visitors during the year.
World’s most popular museums in 2017
Louvre, Paris, France
National Museum of China, Beijing, China
National Air and Space Museum, Washington, United States
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, United States
Vatican Museums, Vatican City
Shanghai Science & Technology Museum, Shanghai, China
National Museum of Natural History, Washington, United States
British Museum, London, United Kingdom
Tate Modern, London, United Kingdom
National Gallery of Art, Washington, United States
National Gallery, London, United Kingdom
American Museum of Natural History, New York, United States
National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
Natural History Museum, London, United Kingdom
State Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russia
China Science Technology Museum, Beijing, China
Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain
National Museum of American History, Washington, United States
Victoria & Albert Museum, London, United Kingdom
Centre Pompidou, Paris, France