Over 60,000 Cultural and Artistic Activities in 2024... Up 4.7% from Previous Year

Performing Arts Lead with 30,273 Cases

In 2024, domestic cultural and artistic activities in South Korea showed an overall increase across all sectors, including literature, visual arts, and performing arts. Structural changes were also observed, such as the expansion of creation-focused publishing, a rise in solo exhibitions, and the reinforcement of repeated performances of newly created works.

According to the "2024 Survey on the Status of Cultural and Artistic Activities" statistics released by the Arts Council Korea on December 31, 2024, the total number of cultural and artistic activities reached 62,442, marking a 4.7% increase (2,821 cases) compared to the previous year. By sector, there were 15,024 cases in literature, 17,145 in visual arts, and 30,273 in performing arts, indicating a steady overall growth in domestic cultural and artistic activities.

The Survey on the Status of Cultural and Artistic Activities is a nationally approved statistical report (No. 433001) and has been included in the annual Yearbook of Arts and Culture since 1976. Each year, it analyzes the number, frequency, and trends of domestic cultural and artistic activities by sector, genre, region, and period, providing insight into the volume and trends of professional arts in South Korea.

In the field of literature, there were 12,699 domestic book publications and 2,325 translated foreign literary works. While the number of domestic publications increased, the number of translated books decreased. Among domestic publications, single-volume books accounted for 75.9% (9,643 cases), while single-volume translated books made up 65.7% (1,527 cases).

The most published literary genre was fiction, with 4,487 domestic books and 1,879 translated foreign works. In the visual arts sector, solo exhibitions totaled 9,817, an increase of 874 from the previous year, while group exhibitions numbered 7,328, a decrease of 220.

The total number of exhibitions increased by 654 compared to the previous year. The average duration per exhibition in 2024 was 25.6 days, down by 1.2 days from 26.8 days in 2023. The average duration for solo exhibitions increased by 0.6 days to 23.3 days, while group exhibitions decreased by 2.7 days to 28.8 days.

The most active genre for exhibitions was painting, with a total of 9,644 exhibitions held in 2024, a 6.9% increase (624 cases) from the previous year. In the performing arts sector, there were a total of 30,273 performances held 145,543 times in 2024. Of these, 883 (2.9%) were newly created premieres, while 29,390 (97.1%) were repeat performances.

The 883 newly created premieres were staged a total of 8,212 times, while the 29,390 repeat performances were staged 137,331 times. Although newly created premieres accounted for a small proportion of the total performances, the average number of performances per premiere rose from 7.0 in 2023 to 9.3 in 2024, a 32.9% increase (an average of 2.3 more performances), indicating more active staging of new works.

By region, the national average number of cultural and artistic activities per 100,000 people was 93 in 2024, up by 5.1 from 87.9 in 2023. By sector, exhibitions increased by 1.3 to 33.6, while performing arts decreased by 1.7 to 59.4. By quarter, there were 7,403 activities in Q1, 13,219 in Q2, 13,225 in Q3, and 16,144 in Q4, showing that cultural and artistic activities were more active in the second half of the year than in the first half.

The results of this survey can be accessed immediately as the "Yearbook of Arts and Culture 2025" through the ARKO website, while detailed data such as statistical tables via the National Statistical Portal (KOSIS) and the Yearbook of Arts and Culture website will be available from January 2026.