Global sales works of art fell 4 percent last year to about $65 billion as wealthier clients cut back on their purchases, according to the Art Market Report, published Thursday by the Swiss bank UBS.

The bank’s wealth management department advises clients interested in buying art, although it does not consider such purchases to be investments.

Inflation, high interest rates and political instability have made wealthier clients more wary of buying art and taking longer to decide on potential purchases, according to Paul Donovan, chief economist at UBS’s wealth management division.

Volume at art auctions was down 7% and at dealers by 3%, mainly due to lower demand for more expensive art and lower average value purchases.

The only country where art sales increased was China, which became the world’s second largest art market after the US with a 9% increase in transactions to $12.2 billion. Donovan attributes the stronger interest from Chinese buyers to the consumption behavior seen of late after the COVID lockdowns, as China kept the isolation measures in place for longer than the Western countries.