The survey highlights a broadly positive picture of visitor behaviour. Almost one in three museums reported a rise of more than 10% in visitors compared with 2024. Just over half of all respondents recorded stable attendance, experiencing fluctuations of less than 10%. Meanwhile, 18% of museums reported a notable decline.
- Access the full report (in Danish)
Financial outlook
The economic expectations for 2025 mirror the visitor trends. 79% of museums anticipate either breaking even or achieving a surplus in 2025. While this indicates ongoing financial resilience, it represents a small drop compared with 2023, when 88% reported the same outlook. At the same time, 14% of museums expect a significant deficit in 2025, up from 10% in 2023.
Impact from recent Museum Reform
This year’s data must be understood within the context of Denmark’s museum reform, which requires state-recognised museums to apply stricter criteria for counting visitors. Under the new guidelines, museums may include only visitors who attend exhibitions or those who participate in professional events where a paid ticket is required.
This means that several previously counted guest categories are no longer included. Visitors attending exhibitions in public spaces, participants in events without ticket fees, and users of outdoor areas, cafés or related facilities are excluded from the official visitor figures. As a result, some museums reporting a “decline” emphasise that the downturn is purely methodological rather than a reflection of actual audience engagement.
About the survey
The Danish Museums Association conducted the survey online from 21 January to 2 February 2026. Of the organisation’s 143 member museums, 72 responded, representing an even distribution across geographical regions, institutional sizes and museum types.
