Projected revenue at both auction houses is up from 2024, at $7bn for Sotheby's and $6.2bn at Christie's, with high-profile transactions increasingly taking place behind closed doors

Following two years of a down market and declining sales, the world’s two leading auction houses Christie’s and Sotheby’s today both reported upticks in total projected revenue for 2025.

Neither auction house, which are both privately owned, reveal details of profit.

Sotheby’s finished the year on top, making a projected $7bn in global sales—a 17% increase on last year ($6bn). A stellar November season in New York, during which the house broke the record for most expensive work of Modern art sold at auction, $236.3m for Klimt’s Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer (1914-16), proved a welcome shot in the arm. Its public auction results stand at $5.7bn, a 26% increase on last year.

Meanwhile Christie’s will turnover $6.2bn overall, a 6% boost year-on-year. Of this, public auctions amounted to $4.7bn, up 8% from last year. Emphasising the momentum that has been gained in the market over the past few months, Christie’s report notes that the second half of 2025 marked a 26% in overall sales compared to the same period last year. Sotheby’s saw the same increase in second half sales year-on-year.

Both houses have grown their private sales business in recent years, due, in part, to an uncertain climate that has prompted risk-averse consignors to sell prized work away from public scrutiny. This year's improved auction results have seen private sales at both houses either gently decline or remain stable compared to last year, accounting for 24% of total revenue at Christie’s and 17% at Sotheby’s. Christie’s, despite not claiming as many headline-grabbing auction records as Sotheby’s, states in its report that the top three sales this year were made privately.

Revenue from private sales at both auction houses has grown exponentially since the pandemic, particularly at Christie's. Comparing end-of-year results from 2019 and 2025, Christie’s brought in $700m more from private sales this year than it did to 2019 ($800m vs $1.5bn). Sotheby's meanwhile made $200m more in private sales compared to 2019 ($1bn vs $1.2bn).