Most visited museum in world is not Louvre, new ranking shows

The Palace Museum in Beijing is the world’s most visited museum, according to a new ranking of the 20 most popular museums based on 2025 visitor numbers.

The Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) published the annual ranking, which lists museums by attendance.

A bronze guardian lion statue stands outside a traditional imperial palace building in the Forbidden City in Beijing, China. (Adobe Stock Photo)

Palace Museum leads list

The Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City, was founded 101 years ago. It houses traditional Chinese artworks, historical objects and relics from the Ming and Qing dynasties. About 19 million people visit the museum each year, according to the index.

The Palace Museum is one of 12 Chinese museums on the list. The Summer Palace in Beijing ranks second with 17,381,000 visitors.

The Museum of Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s Mausoleum, dedicated to China’s first emperor, ranks third with 10,970,000 visitors.

The Louvre Museum and its glass pyramid are seen in Paris, France. (Adobe Stock Photo)

Louvre tops museums outside China

The Louvre in Paris is the highest-ranked museum outside China. It ranks fourth with more than 9 million visitors.

The Palace of Versailles in France ranks fifth, followed by the Natural History Museum in London in seventh place and the Vatican Museums in eighth.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York ranks 17th with about 6 million visitors in 2025. The British Museum in London ranks 13th.

Visitors gather outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, U.S. (Adobe Stock Photo)

East Asian museums dominate ranking

East Asia accounts for 14 of the 20 museums: 12 in China and two in Seoul, South Korea. The Gyeongbokgung Palace ranks 11th and the National Museum of Korea ranks 12th.

Top 20 most visited museums

1. Palace Museum, Beijing – 19,000,000
2. Summer Palace, Beijing – 17,381,000
3. Museum of Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s Mausoleum, Xi’an – 10,970,000
4. Louvre Museum, Paris – 9,046,000
5. Palace of Versailles, France – 8,400,000
6. Shenzhen Nanshan District Museum, Shenzhen – 7,455,000
7. Natural History Museum, London – 7,117,000
8. Vatican Museums, Vatican City – 6,934,000
9. Opium War Museum, Dongguan – 6,929,000
10. National Museum of China, Beijing – 6,900,000
11. Gyeongbokgung Palace, Seoul – 6,887,000
12. National Museum of Korea, Seoul – 6,507,000
13. British Museum, London – 6,440,000
14. Prince Gong Mansion Museum, Beijing – 6,120,000
15. Sanxingdui Museum, Guanghan – 6,080,000
16. Chengdu Wuhou Shrine Museum, Chengdu – 6,030,000
17. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York – 5,984,000
18. Nanjing Museum, Nanjing – 5,860,000
19. Shenyang Palace Museum, Shenyang – 5,852,000
20. China Science and Technology Museum, Beijing – 5,530,000

November 05, 2026 05:04 AM GMT+03:00