( CNN ) While elbow room is undoubtedly still very scarce around Leonardo da Vinci's \"Mona Lisa,\" the museum that houses her is no longer the No. 1 most visited museum in the world. <\/p>\n
After four consecutive years on record as the museum world's top draw, the Louvre fell to No. 3 for attendance in the 2016 Museum Index released in June by the Themed Entertainment Association and AECOM. <\/p>\n
The blockbuster Paris museum was edged out for the first time in the index's five-year history by the National Museum of China in Beijing. Washington's National Air and Space Museum also bested the Louvre, ranking second in attendance figures in 2016. <\/p>\n
The top three all topped 7 million attendees; the National Museum of China saw nearly 7.6 million visitors, while 7.5 million were recorded at the National Air and Space Museum and 7.4 million visited the Louvre. <\/p>\n
The world's top 20 museums exceeded their previous collective attendance record by more than a million guests in 2016, racking up 108 million visitors, according to the report. <\/p>\n
The Louvre, however, saw a nearly 15% decline in visitation from 2015, a drop pinned to an overall drop in tourism to Paris that has been attributed in part to economic and political events. <\/p>\n
Another Paris museum, the Centre Pompidou, fared better with a 6% increase in visitation from 2015, putting it at No. 20 on the 2016 list with 3.3 million visitors. The city's Muse d'Orsay dropped out of the top 20 in 2016. <\/p>\n
In London, an expansion at the Tate Modern that opened in 2016 propelled that museum's nearly 24% spike in attendance, putting it at No. 10 on the list. <\/p>\n
The No. 1-ranked National Museum of China saw a 3.6% jump in attendance, an increase the report attributes to population size, free admission and the museum's location in the major tourist destination of Beijing. <\/p>\n
For the full list of the world's most popular museums in 2016, click on the above gallery. <\/p>\n
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The world's 20 most popular museums in 2016 - CNN<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" ( CNN ) While elbow room is undoubtedly still very scarce around Leonardo da Vinci's \"Mona Lisa,\" the museum that houses her is no longer the No. 1 most visited museum in the world. Continue reading