China's National Museum tops world museum list

The National Museum of China in Beijing has become the most-visited museum in the world, according to the latest figures.

The National Museum of China attracted 7.6 million visitors during 2016. [Photo: VCG]

The statistics for 2016 also show a boom in museum attendance across China and around the world, with the top 20 museums attracting 108 million people, exceeding the previous record by more than one million visitors.

The success of the National Museum has been ascribed to the sheer size of the country’s population, free admission, and Beijing’s status as a major tourist destination.

The Top 10 museums worldwide according to the recently released 2016 TEA/AECOM Theme Index and Museum Index. [Photo:aecom.com]

The 11th annual Theme Index and Museum Index, conducted jointly by the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) and the leading consulting and engineering firm, AECOM, has also revealed the top 2 museums in the Asia-Pacific regions are both located in China, namely the National Museum of China, Beijing (7.55 million attendees) and the Shanghai Science & Technology Museum (6.32 million). The study also shows that 12 out of the top 20 museums in the Asia-Pacific region are to be found in Greater China.