SINGAPORE - The number of visitors at national museums and heritage institutions hit an all-time high of 3,751,475 in 2015, the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) said on Tuesday (Nov 15).

This was almost one million more than the 2,970,981 visitors in 2014, spurred in part by the opening of the National Gallery Singapore and the Indian Heritage Centre.

There was also a rise in visitorship at most institutions - the number of visitors to the Malay Heritage Centre more than doubled, from 166,506 in 2014 to 445,186 in 2015, while the number of visitors to the Singapore Art Museum also shot up from 743,718 to 903,357.

Heritage culture got a tremendous boost during the SG50 year. Non-ticketed attendance at heritage events rose from 5.2 million in 2014 to 6.2 million in 2015.

Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Grace Fu said in a statement: "The SG50 Concert Series in the Park, Jubilee Walk, opening of National Gallery Singapore and many more events drew large crowds."

Attendance at ticketed and non-ticketed performing arts events remained largely stable, with 1.6 million tickets sold and 2.8 million attendees at non-ticketed arts events.

There was, however, an increase in the number of ticketed and non-ticketed performing and visual arts events.

MCCY said that, on average, there were 23 arts performances and 72 visual arts exhibitions daily in 2015.

The ministry also highlighted an increase in individual and corporate donations to the arts and culture sector, from $60 million in 2014 to more than $150 million in 2015. Another $80 million was matched in funds by the Government.