Christie’s Auction Sales Down 22 Percent in First Half of 2024

Christie’s, the world’s largest auction house, reported Tuesday that it generated $2.1 billion in live and online auction sales in the first half of 2024, a figure that represents a 22 drop from the same period last year.

During the first half of 2023, Christie’s brought in $2.7 billion in live and online auction sales. That figure was already down 23 percent from the $3.5 billion generated during the same period in 2022.

In years past, Christie’s has reported the total revenues of auction and private sales. But this year, the house did not announce its private sales figures. Between 2021 and 2023, private sales had decreased significantly, falling from $850 million to $484 million.

According to Christie’s, 41 percent of their buyers this year were based in the Americas; 38 percent in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa; and 21 percent in Asia. The number of Asian buyers decreased by 5 percent from the first half of 2022, dropping from 26 percent to 21 percent. This figure was significantly higher in 2021, at 39 percent.

For the second year in a row, Guillaume Cerutti, the house’s CEO described the market landscape as continually “challenging” during a press conference announcing the results on Tuesday.

The house highlighted one positive metric: 29 percent of its clients are millennials and Gen Z, meaning that these collectors are under 40 years old. This figure is consistent with last year’s percentage, indicating that the 250-year-old business is successfully maintaining the interest of younger collectors.