Gen Z Collectors Are Outspending Every Generation on Art

Gen Z Collectors have become the art market's biggest spenders, shelling out an average of 347,460 dollars on fine art last year — up 19% on the year before and more than twice the average of any older generation, according to the Survey of Global Collecting from Art Basel and UBS.

The study, produced by the research firm Arts Economics and authored by Clare McAndrew, polled 3,100 high-net-worth collectors across 10 major markets. Respondents aged 20 to 29 — the survey's definition of Gen Z — made up 9% of the sample, yet they are setting the pace for the entire market.

The gap between generations

The generational gap is stark. Gen X collectors averaged about 79,000 dollars on fine art, while the full-sample average came in at 124,265 dollars. That overall figure climbed 13% from the previous year — but the youngest cohort still sits far above it, in another sign of the generation's growing spending power.

The momentum has carried into this year. The youngest wealthy buyers recorded the highest average art spending again in the first half of 2026, reported by Reuters, and accounted for a large share of the small circle of collectors who bought a work priced above one million dollars.

The pattern is not a one-off. The survey has tracked the generational handover for several years, and the latest results suggest it now shows up clearly in the receipts: the youngest cohort of wealthy collectors outspends older buyers on art, on jewels and on the digital and luxury pieces rounding out their collections.

Beyond the canvas: jewels, tech and taste

The spending extends beyond paintings. Young collectors averaged 151,310 dollars on jewelry and gems, compared with 29,500 for Gen X buyers. Painting and sculpture sit alongside digital art and luxury collectibles in their collections, and nearly half said an artwork's uniqueness and rarity mattered more to them than expert approval.

Technology is reshaping how they buy. The study's author told The Art Newspaper that the share of collectors using AI tools for purchase research rose from 4% in 2024 to 22%. And 40% of young collectors cited family as their primary route into collecting, with many inheriting both taste and means. UBS chief economist Paul Donovan noted that aesthetic preferences stay more consistent across generations than many assume — the difference is who holds the wallet. The research suggests younger buyers do more of their homework before they bid, comparing provenance and prices across platforms rather than relying on a single gallery relationship.

Why fairs and galleries are paying attention

For Gen Z Collectors, the numbers confirm a shift the trade has watched for years. The fair's chief executive Noah Horowitz called the changing of the guard "no longer a forecast," noting that fairs are drawing more young, female and self-made VIP buyers. Galleries are responding the way other industries have — just as wine producers are rethinking packaging to reach young drinkers — while young shoppers are set to carry a large share of this year's holiday spending across retail. Yet the generation raised on social media is the most private about its collections: selective about whom it invites in, guarded about what it shares online, the study found.

The fine print

There is an important caveat. Kylie James, chief executive of the London Art Exchange, argues that the ability to spend and the motivation to collect are two different things — and this survey looks specifically at wealthy collectors, a group where family money often makes the purchases possible. The findings cannot tell us that young people in general have more disposable income. Elite Traveler reports her full analysis of the generation's auction-buying habits.

Stepping back, the global art market reached 59.6 billion dollars in 2025, a modest rise on the prior year — and the youngest wealthy buyers are now among its most active participants. For young creatives, that matters: the tastes of this generation's collectors shape which artists get wall space, which mediums get funded and which new voices break through. That influence extends to how works are shown, priced and sold — and to who gets invited into the room. The guard has not just changed; it is buying.