Around 5 million visitors in Brussels museums in 2025
In 2025, Brussels museums welcomed around 5,000,000 visitors, a result slightly lower than 2024, the record year. This remains a strong number, despite the difficulties faced by the cultural sector throughout the year.
The first half of 2025 ended with an overall decrease of 5% compared to 2024. Visitor numbers rebounded over the summer, with an increase of 11%, and this upward trend continued into autumn. September and October recorded a rise of 18%, mainly thanks to Museum Night Fever, Brussels’ museum night. This increase slowed slightly in November, before reversing in December with a 6% decline. Overall, the year closed with a 2% decrease compared to 2024. This trend is also reflected in the sales of the Brussels Card, the tourist pass granting access to around fifty museums.
The decrease in visitor numbers was most pronounced in the centre of Brussels and in several major museums. Attendance remained stable at the AfricaMuseum and the Brussels City Hall. In contrast, visitor numbers increased at other institutions, notably at the Royal Military Museum with its virtual exhibition on Napoleon, and at the Royal Museums of Art and History (Cinquantenaire), which opened new galleries.
A Brussels context with a direct impact on museum visits
For some museums, such as the Royal Museums of Fine Arts, the relative decline can partly be explained by the exceptional success of flagship exhibitions in 2024. Other contributing factors include extensive roadworks complicating access to Brussels, repeated public transport strikes, and media coverage highlighting safety concerns in the capital. The decrease in purchasing power among the population, which has been stronger this year, also played a role.
Finally, the political situation in Brussels has an impact, as the absence of a government creates uncertainty around the funding of certain exhibitions.
Despite everything, a strong overall result for 2025
Exhibitions focusing on Art Deco and Art Nouveau attracted large audiences, mainly thanks to the Art Nouveau Pass with art deco extension, available at institutions such as the Fondation Boghossian - Villa Empain, Maison Cauchie, the Van Buuren Museum and Gardens, Maison Hannon, the Horta Museum and Lab·An x Hotel van Eetvelde.
Specialised museums also enjoyed strong success with targeted exhibitions, including Autoworld with “Big in Japan”, Fondation A Stichting, the Museum of Freemasonry, the Rouge-Cloître Art Centre, Wittockiana, MigratieMuseumMigration, the Wellington Museum with “Playmobil, a story of empires”, WIELS with “Magic Realism”, and Bozar with exhibitions on Baldessari and Goya, among others. The museums that attracted the highest number of visitors were the Royal Museums of Fine Arts, the Parlamentarium, Bozar, the Institute of Natural Sciences and the Meise Botanic Garden.