The Art Basel and UBS Survey of Global Collecting 2026 was published on 8 October, offering the most comprehensive annual snapshot of how wealthy collectors are navigating a market in flux. Authored by Clare McAndrew of Arts Economics, the thirteenth edition draws on responses from 3,100 active high-net-worth collectors across ten core markets, including the US, UK, France, Germany, mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Australia and Brazil. The headline figures point to recovery. Global art sales grew 4% in 2025 to $59.6 billion after two years of slowdown and price correction, while the first half of 2026 saw strong rebounds at Christie's, Sotheby's and Phillips — driven by single-owner collection sales and sustained demand for trophy works by established names. More than half of respondents expect growth to continue in the second half of 2026, and 60% are strongly optimistic about the coming decade. The generational picture is shifting fast. Collectors aged 20 to 29 now outspend every older cohort, and the report identifies Gen Z behaviour — alongside artificial intelligence — as the forces most visibly reshaping the top end of the market. Yet caution runs beneath the optimism. The average share of total wealth that collectors allocate to art has fallen from a 2022 peak of 24% to 15%, reflecting higher interest rates, economic volatility and geopolitical uncertainty. The ultra-wealthy remain the exception: those worth more than $50 million devote 23% on average, with nearly a third committing over 30%. Meanwhile 72% of collectors have inherited art, and three-quarters of those heirs kept at least part of what they received — a reminder that collecting is still, for many, a family affair.