Hong Kong Is Still Asia’s International Auction Hub, Report Finds

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Hong Kong’s auction market recorded its highest sales volume in a decade in 2025, with 22,247 lots sold, according to a newly released report from Mishcon de Reya and ArtTactic.

Co-launched in 2025 by legal services group Mishcon de Reya and art market analysis firm ArtTactic, the annual China Market Report this year analysed auction data from 2016 to 2025, highlighting structural shifts reshaping the region’s art trade.

In a statement, Anders Petterson, founder and chief executive of ArtTactic said: “For the 2026 edition, we broadened our dataset to encompass the full spectrum of Hong Kong auction categories, allowing us to contextualise its role as a global art hub and to shed light on the ecosystem that supports Modern and Contemporary art.”

Despite broader market uncertainty, according to the report, Hong Kong retained a 14.5 percent share of global auction sales in 2025, ranking third after New York and London and reaffirming its role as Asia’s primary international art market hub.

These positive figures were supported by a 20.2 percent increase in online sales volumes even as in-room transactions declined, underscoring the growing importance of digital and hybrid auction models.

A structurally balanced market

Last year also produced several headline results. Jean-Michel Othoniel set a new auction record at Phillips, Sotheby’s sold a Yoshitomo Nara for $10.2 million USD, and Pablo Picasso’s Buste de femme achieved $25.4 million at Christie’s.

Yet, as the report highlights, these sales masked a more cautious market environment: a contraction in high-value consignments caused a 30 percent decline in Modern and Contemporary sales value, despite only modest falls in the number of lots sold.

In contrast, traditional Asian works of art become Hong Kong’s largest collecting segment, with sales rising 32.4 percent year on year. This strong regional demand indicates that an established and resilient collector base focused on classical categories.

“Hong Kong’s resilience as a global trading hub, combined with stronger participation across traditional Asian works of art and luxury collectibles, points to a market that is becoming more diversified and structurally balanced,” Petterson told Ocula.

While Hong Kong continues to function as the region’s international auction hub, the market in Mainland China is evolving along a somewhat different trajectory.

Analysis found that auction houses are offering fewer works overall, but focusing increasingly on higher-value consignments. Sales of artworks priced above $1 million rose by 14.1 percent to 58.2 million in 2025, reflecting the sustained buying power of wealthy domestic collectors.

Demand for women artists remains uneven

The report also highlights renewed market attention for Chinese women modernists. Auction sales of works by artists including Pan Yuliang and Fang Junbi rose 121.7 percent in 2025, reaching their highest level since 2021.

Yet the broader picture remains uneven. No women appear among the report’s top ten contemporary artists with the highest sales value in 2025, and only Ayako Rokkaku and Li Hei Di enter the top ten among the younger generations.

“As speculative activity continues to unwind and long-term collecting horizons regain prominence, we see the foundations for a more sustainable growth cycle emerging across Hong Kong and Mainland China,” Petterson said.