South West Museum Development, on behalf of Museum Development England, has revealed the results of the Annual Museums Survey for 2023. Funded by Arts Council England, The Annual Museum Survey (AMS) 2023 provides a new, in-depth, picture of the post-pandemic legacy alongside the increasing pressure on museums across England due to the cost-of-living crisis.
Museums are striving, and in many cases, succeeding in their recovery with strong growth across museum visits and volunteer contribution increasing on the previous year. However, after two years of energy invested in their adaptation and recovery, AMS 2023 highlights how growth in income is stalling at the very same time that costs are rising across almost all service areas. The cost-of living crisis continues to put pressure on expenditure hindering the previously hard-won gains achieved in increasing income.
The report highlights that museum visit numbers have increased 27% on the previous year but are still 18% down on pre-pandemic levels which, alongside tackling the challenges of the cost-of-living crisis and inflation, has maintained pressure on the sector.
Museum volunteers are making a welcome return to pre-pandemic levels with the number of people volunteering increasing by 11%, only 5% fewer than pre-pandemic levels. Most importantly, the number of hours contributed by these volunteers has shifted positively from the previous year’s reduction of 37%. Despite this progress, volunteer hours are still 16% down on pre-pandemic levels and continues to have a material impact on the sector’s capacity.
Despite the strong recovery in income over the past two years, this progress is stalling, and dropped by 3% in the last year. Most importantly this drop in income comes while museums are reporting an increase in expenditure of 10% meaning that financial pressures on the sector continue to persist.
Victoria Harding, Programme Manager at South West Museum Development, said,
“Thank you to the 701 museums that participated in the AMS 2023 survey and made this research possible. Analysing the data across the past four years has provided valuable insights, not just into the pandemic recovery and the agility of the sector to rebuild, but also the new impacts generated by the cost-of-living crisis. A range of factors, such as free entry and geography, have influenced the degree to which museum visitors have returned to pre-pandemic levels. However, across the sector, irrespective of how successfully museums have generated increased income through a variety of new, or enhanced, ways this progress is outstripped by the increase in expenditure reported by 64% of museums.
Understanding the diverse nature of museums’ operating context is critical to understanding the sector, how it is progressing since the pandemic, but also in informing and developing effective policy and investment decisions. Factors such as 29% of museums having a turnover of less than £25,000 each year, or 31% of museums being wholly volunteer run, need to inform the basis on which funders and policy makers determine how to develop and invest effectively across the sector.”
Developed and operated by South West Museum Development on behalf of Museum Development, the AMS has been operating across England for seven years. Due to the consistent high level of engagement by museums it has been possible to benchmarking data generated every year, spotlight trends as well as to use the data to advocate for the social and economic contribution of museums to stakeholders and funders.
