Natural History Museum Most Visited UK Museum for Second Year Running

The Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA) has released the visitor figures of its members for 2022 today (Friday, March 17, 2023), revealing the Natural History Museum achieved a 196% increase in attendance with 4,654,608 visitors last year making it the most popular indoor attraction in the UK.

Museum Director Doug Gurr says: “We are thrilled to have become the UK’s most popular indoor attraction for a second year running. It is testament to our innovative and inspiring public programme of events and exhibitions which included Our Broken Planet: How We Got Here and Ways to Fix it, Dippy Returns and Wildlife Photographer of the Year as well as the dedication of our Visitor Experience team who work so hard to ensure visitors have a brilliant day out.”

The Museum is continuing to see strong visitor attendance in 2023 so far and is on track to exceed 5 million for the financial year. 

Director of Public Programmes Alex Burch adds: “Visitors are going to be in for a treat yet again this year with the opportunity to come face to toe with one of the largest known creatures to ever roam the earth in Titanosaur: Life as the Biggest Dinosaur which opens later this month. We’re committed to ensuring nature and science is accessible to all and continuing to work closely with our local communities We will build on our outreach work which last year engaged 1500 local children and young people in a range of activities, such as our dedicated winter community space, career inspiration events and skills-building projects.”

Natural History Museum visitor numbers

• The Natural History Museum achieved a 196% increase in attendance with 4,654,608 visitors last year making it the most popular indoor attraction in the UK.

• October half-term (w/c 24 October) was the busiest week of 2022, with 139,798 visitors 

• Visitors made the most of their chance to see the nation’s favourite dinosaur in Dippy Returns with over a million visitors (1,060,813)

• The Museum’s critically acclaimed free display Our Broken Planet: How We Got Here and Ways to Fix It display which engages visitors with the planetary emergency was seen by 820,819 visitors in 2022 (1.2 million visitors for its full run)

• The exhibitions of the Museum’s world-renowned photography exhibition Wildlife Photographer of the Year garnered 148, 671 visitors

Visit Highlights for 2023

Admission is free to the Natural History Museum. Visitors can book a timed admission slot for at nhm.ac.uk. 

Exhibitions

Visitors will have the opportunity to step into the world of the colossal dinosaur Patagotitan mayorum, one of the largest known creatures to have ever walked our planet in its new blockbuster exhibition Titanosaur: Life as the Biggest Dinosaur which opens on 31 March. Making its European debut, this gigantic titanosaur is around four times heavier than Dippy the Diplodocus and 12 metres longer than Hope, the Museum’s iconic blue whale and will takes centre stage in a fun and interactive family exhibition. 

The Museum’s series of free art installations continues with Gregor Sailer: The Polar Silk Road which opens on 26 May.  In his UK debut, acclaimed Austrian artist and photographer Gregor Sailer showcases 67 images of manmade structures captured across four countries in the Arctic circle. In this thought-provoking installation, Gregor documents the changes that are resulting from climate change and the melting ice across the Arctic which is opening shorter sea routes in an area becoming widely known as the ‘Polar Silk Road’ presenting new opportunities for exploitation, research, trade and access to new raw material deposits. 

In October, the Museum’s perennially popular Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition will showcase the 100 outstanding images awarded in its 59th year.

Events

Generation Hope: Act for the Planet is a free programme of inspiring workshops, panels and talks created in partnership with young people, for young people aged 16+. Taking place between 20-25 March, Generation Hope’s line up of talks and participatory panels will tackle key issues impacting young people today including eco-anxiety, getting to grips with the science, understanding the impacts of the planetary emergency, and skills workshops. The event will also include a keynote address from and Q&A with the Museum’s new Chair Sir Patrick Vallance about finding solutions to climate change.

The Museum’s sell-out visitor events are running throughout the year, including Dino Snores for Kids, Dino Snores for Grown-ups, Silent Discos, Yoga at the Museum, Adventure Babies, Behind the Scenes Spirit Collection Tour and Out of Hours Dino Tours. 
 
New additions for 2023 include everything from Tai Chi under Hope the Blue Whale to our Out of Hours Titano Tours which includes special access to the Titanosaur: Life as the Biggest Dinosaur exhibition, and the world-famous Dinosaur gallery, before it opens to the public. Fans of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition will be treated to a special tour of the exhibition and discover the stories and details that didn't make it into the captions in the Behind The Lens Tours.  

The ever-popular Dawnosaurs: Relaxed Morning Visits continue for children with neurodiverse conditions (including autism and other sensory processing difficulties) enabling them to enjoy the Museum with their family, free from the hustle and bustle of the general public. 

Th award-winning Women in Science tours shine a light on marginalised and historically underrepresented voices - sharing fascinating stories, inspiring achievements and contributions to natural history - and the Museum delivers a number of Deaf-led Behind-the-Scenes Tours: Spirit Collection throughout the year. 

Ends

Contact

Natural History Media contact: Tel: 0779 969 0151 Email: press@nhm.ac.uk

Notes to Editors

About the Natural History Museum

The Natural History Museum is both a world-leading science research centre and the most-visited indoor attraction in the UK. With a vision of a future in which both people and the planet thrive, it is uniquely positioned to be a powerful champion for balancing humanity’s needs with those of the natural world.   
 
It is custodian of one of the world’s most important scientific collections comprising over 80 million specimens accessed by researchers from all over the world both in person and via over 30 billion digital data downloads to date. The Museum’s 350 scientists are finding solutions to the planetary emergency from biodiversity loss through to the sustainable extraction of natural resources. 

The Museum uses its global reach and influence to meet its mission to create advocates for the planet - to inform, inspire and empower everyone to make a difference for nature. We welcome millions of visitors through our doors each year, our website has had 17 million visits in the last year and our touring exhibitions have been seen by around 20 million people in the last 10 years.