The number of museum visits fell slightly last year
According to Statistics Estonia, in 2015, Estonian museums were visited 3.3 million times, which is 4% less than a year before. The number of museums remained unchanged compared to 2014.
In 2015, Estonian museums were visited by 498,770 inhabitants of Estonia aged 15 or over, meaning that one museum visitor made an average of three visits per year.
There were 2,476 museum visits per 1,000 inhabitants in Estonia in 2015 and despite the fall in the number of visits, according to Egmus.eu, Estonia stands out as one of the European countries with the most active museum visitors. Children in Estonia visit museums diligently as well: children under 9 years old went to museums 235,000 times in 2015.
Among Estonian residents aged 15 or over, 56% of the museum visitors were women, and people in the age group 30–39 visited museums the most frequently. Foreign tourists constituted 35% of the total number of visitors. Personal development was deemed the main reason for visiting museums.
The number of museums has remained unchanged since 2013. In 2015, there were 256 active museums in Estonia. The number of exhibitions, however, has declined – while there were 1,795 exhibitions in 2014, then 1,753 exhibitions were held last year.
Museums employed 1,733 people, which is 136 persons fewer than in 2014. Despite the drop in the number of employees, 19% more scholarly articles were published in 2015 than a year earlier.
On Saturday, 14 May, Estonia once again celebrates the European Night of Museums. For this year’s event, museums have chosen the umbrella theme “Waves in the Night”. More information is available at http://www.muuseumioo.ee/. In 141 days, on 1 October 2016, the Estonian National Museum will be reopened for exhibitions and this will surely impact on this year’s statistics on museum attendance.