The Louvre Museum will increase the entrance ticket price for visitors from outside Europe by 45%

The Louvre Museum in Paris decided on Thursday to increase the entrance ticket price for visitors from outside Europe by 45% starting in 2026, a measure promoted by the government and denounced by the unions, reports the French press, taken over by News.ro.

Starting January 14, citizens from outside the European Economic Area (EEA, which includes the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) will have to pay 32 euros to enter the most visited museum in the world, which means 10 euros more than the current price of the entrance ticket.

The Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati, had already announced her intention to introduce a differentiated tariff policy for the Louvre. “We wanted a differentiated tariff policy, which will be implemented starting January 1, 2026 and which will allow, in particular, the financing of this new museum project,” she declared.

Contacted by BFMTV.com, the Ministry of Culture confirmed that this differentiated tariff policy aims to charge higher fees to visitors from outside the European Union.

In 2024, 77% of visitors were foreign, 23% were American and 6% were Chinese, according to the Louvre Museum.

Currently, the museum already offers a tariff policy differentiated according to the visitors' profile. Residents between the ages of 18 and 26 from the countries of the European Economic Area benefit from free entry, as do visitors with disabilities, the unemployed or beneficiaries of minimum social benefits.

The re-discussion of these tariffs is not on the agenda, the Ministry of Culture indicated to BFMTV.com.

The decision was announced in the context of the recent robbery of jewels from the Louvre Museum, in debates in France criticizing insufficient security measures, partly due to insufficient funding of the institution.

Also, the measure is reminiscent of one recently taken by the US authorities. Foreign tourists who want to visit US national parks, such as the famous Grand Canyon or Yellowstone, will have to pay a significant surcharge starting in 2026, the Trump administration announced on Tuesday, explaining that it wants to give “Americans priority”.