More than one million antiquities and cultural objects, many of which were looted, have been returned to their countries of origin over the past 75 years, according to a new report from the Museum of Looted Antiquities (MOLA). The database, created by the US-based non-profit Achilles Research Group, covers repatriations occurring between 1950 and late 2025 and estimates the value of the returned items at over $2 billion.

The MOLA database is the first comprehensive effort to document the scale and scope of art repatriation globally. Its director, Jason Felch, noted that while individual high-profile cases like the Parthenon sculptures or Benin Bronzes have attracted attention, most returns take place quietly, without public fanfare. The number of repatriations has increased significantly since the mid-1990s, with a marked surge after 2020, reaching nearly 150 separate cases reported in 2024.

Felch highlighted a recent cultural shift within collecting institutions, observing a move away from aggressive legal stances toward greater cooperation with countries seeking the return of their heritage. This change reflects broader public debates about the ethics of cultural collecting and colonial-era acquisitions.

Countries such as Egypt, Italy, and Saudi Arabia have each recovered more than 30,000 items during the period covered by the report. These nations tend to benefit from sustained government involvement, specialised law enforcement units focusing on cultural property, and active advocacy by civil society groups.

The United States emerges as the largest single returning country, with 81 museums relinquishing approximately 101,000 items. This figure excludes the "Black Swan hoard," a collection of some 595,000 Peruvian gold and silver coins salvaged from a 19th-century Spanish shipwreck and returned to Spain in 2012 by the US company that had claimed ownership. Notable objects repatriated by US institutions include the Euphronios Krater, a painted ancient vase acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1972 and returned to Italy in 2008 following claims that it was looted near Rome.

The Antiquities Trafficking Unit within the Manhattan district attorney’s office, led by prosecutor Matthew Bogdanos, has played an influential role in recovering looted artifacts, particularly after the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. As of late September, the unit had returned more than 6,200 cultural objects to 40 countries and secured convictions in 18 cases related to antiquities trafficking.

The MOLA data encompass items taken both by criminal trafficking networks and through colonial-era removals. One example is the ongoing effort surrounding the Benin Bronzes—cultural artifacts looted after the British sacked Benin City in present-day Nigeria. Since 2022, the Digital Benin project, led by digital heritage scholar Anne Luther, has catalogued over 5,300 of these objects. A coordinated campaign by Nigerian authorities and global academics has facilitated the return of approximately 1,200 Benin Bronzes to date.

Luther emphasized that while the return of over one million objects is significant, it represents only a fraction of the total number of looted or illicitly trafficked antiquities that remain in museums and private collections worldwide. The report suggests that despite recent progress, substantial challenges persist in addressing the legacy of cultural property removed under disputed circumstances.