TÜİK reports surge in museum visits: Which city drew the most visitors?

Turkey’s museums and archaeological sites attracted 65,862,639 visitors in 2025, up 6.8% from the previous year, according to cultural heritage statistics released by the Turkish Statistical Institute.

The number of museums increased 4.4% to 664. The total included 220 museums operated by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, 426 private museums and 18 museums run by the Presidency of National Palaces. Turkey also had 148 archaeological sites.

Museums held 4,012,294 artifacts, a 0.4% annual increase. Collections in ministry-run museums rose 0.5% to 3,388,462 items, while private museums held 292,271 items after a 0.4% increase. National Palaces museums held 331,561 items, down 0.5%.

Coins accounted for 60.4% of the artifacts in ministry-run museums. Archaeological material made up 27.8%, ethnographic material 6.7% and tablets 3.5%.

Visitors to private museums increased 10.8% to 21,905,335. Visits to museums operated by the Presidency of National Palaces fell 8.8% to 9,122,685. Ministry-run museums and archaeological sites accounted for 52.9% of all visits, while paid ministry facilities recorded 20,888,733 visitors. The ministry sold 6,804,917 museum cards.

Istanbul led the country with 18,307,485 museum visitors. Izmir ranked second with 4,646,357, narrowly ahead of Ankara at 4,642,683.