The number of museums in Türkiye rose 4.4% to 664 in 2025, while museum and archaeological site visits increased 6.8% to nearly 65.9 million, according to 2025 Cultural Heritage Statistics released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat).

The number of museums across Türkiye rose 4.4% last year, from 2024 to 664. Of those, 220 were operated by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, 426 were private museums and 18 operated under the Directorate of National Palaces. The number of archaeological sites stood at 148, and the number of artifacts held in museums increased by 0.4% last year to 4,012,294.

The number of artifacts in ministry-affiliated museums rose 0.5% to 3,388,462, while private museums held 292,271 artifacts, up 0.4%. The number of artifacts in museums affiliated with the Directorate of National Palaces fell 0.5% to 331,561.

Of the artifacts in ministry-affiliated museums, 60.4% were coins, 27.8% archaeological materials, 6.7% ethnographic materials and 3.5% tablets.

Visitor numbers rise

The number of visitors to museums and archaeological sites rose 6.8% last year to 65,862,639. Museums and archaeological sites affiliated with the ministry accounted for 52.9% of all visits.

Paid museums and archaeological sites operated by the ministry attracted 20,888,733 visitors, accounting for 31.7% of the total.

Visits to private museums rose 10.8% to 21,905,335, while visits to museums affiliated with the Presidency of National Palaces fell 8.8% to 9,122,685.

The ministry sold 6,804,917 museum cards during the year.

Istanbul leads

Istanbul recorded the highest number of museum visitors among Türkiye's provinces, with 18,307,485, followed by Izmir with 4,646,357 and Ankara with 4,642,683.

The number of immovable cultural heritage assets rose 2.6% in 2025 to 130,632. Istanbul had the highest number, with 34,558, followed by Izmir with 8,120 and Muğla with 5,332.

Protected sites increase

The total number of protected sites rose 6% last year to 27,703, with archaeological sites accounting for 97.1% of the total.

The number of national parks rose 2% to 50, while their total area increased 3.2% to 942,286 hectares. The number of nature parks rose 2.2% to 274, while their total area increased 0.2% to 94,294 hectares.

The number of nature conservation areas remained unchanged at 32, while the number of natural monuments also remained at 111.