Cultural sector under pressure but resilient: Boekman Foundation presents Culture Monitor 2024

The cultural and creative sector shows further recovery in audience reach, but faces continued financial pressures .

Retrieved from Culture Monitor 2024: 

• At least 140.3 million cultural visits in 2023. 
• Museum attendance almost pre-corona level, with an increase in Dutch visitors. 
• Success for Dutch films, with the highest visitor numbers in eight years. 
• Cost increases, inflation and imminent cuts continue to pinch at municipalities. 
• VAT increase not pushed through.

At the latest edition of the Culture Monitor the Boekman Foundation analyses key developments, such as the recovery in audience reach, financial pressures and changes in funding streams. This edition contains updated figures for 2023 (and where possible 2024) and has been expanded with a new theme page on culture and financial flows. In total, the dashboard includes over 220 indicators at national level and more than 140 at regional level. 

Recovery after corona but concerns remain In 2023, the cultural sector attracted over 140 million visitors. Despite rising costs and looming budget cuts, institutions are showing resilience and innovation. Museum attendance is almost back to pre-corona levels, festivals and venues are stabilising or growing slightly, and Dutch films attracted more audiences than in the past eight years. At the same time, financial pressure remains high: inflation, lower municipal budgets and tax changes are putting the sector under strain.

Culture and cash flows  

An important addition to the Culture Monitor 2024 is the theme page "Culture and money flows". This analyses money flows from governments, private contributions and the cultural sector's own income. This page makes clear how the sector's economic base is developing and thus provides valuable tools for policy-making.  

Labour market under pressure

The sector is struggling with staff shortages and high workloads. Technicians are defecting to better-paid sectors and Fair Pay measures are leading to higher labour costs. The self-employed are worried about the reduction of the self-employed deduction and the enforcement of the DBA Act. One positive sign is that the architecture industry is recovering cautiously, while the gaming industry is shrinking. After huge growth during the corona years, gamers' average gaming time has recently decreased and investors have become more cautious.  

Impact of AI and digital transformation

The advance of generative AI offers opportunities but also raises concerns. AI technology affects many creative professions, from architecture to translation. The recent entry into force of European AI legislation provides some guidance, but also raises new questions about copyright and revenue models.  

In contrast, in some creative industries, AI is already more naturally integrated into working practices. While voice actors fear that synthetic voices will make their work obsolete, the architecture industry is increasingly using AI-driven design tools and parametric software. AI is also an integral part of development in the games industry.  

Diversity and social safety

Inequality remains a persistent issue in the cultural sector. Women are often in the majority on creative courses, but in the visual arts they earn 20% less than men on average. In architecture, only 16% of directors are women. 

Although the sector is slowly becoming more diverse, the latest OCW monitor shows that there is still work to be done on diversity among staff, freelancers and supervisors. Social safety and unequal power relations continue to demand attention.