The National Coal Mining Museum for England was visited by 15,462 people in August this year. Courtesy National Coal Mining Museum.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has begun publishing visitor numbers for the numerous museums and galleries it funds.

From the tiny Sir John Soane’s Museum to the vast Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester and The British Museum itself, the amount of people that visit each month will be recorded and uploaded to the DCMS website.

Announcing the launch, Arts Minister Estelle Morris explained how publishing the statistics is a chance to broadcast the success of our national institutions.

"Visits to our national museums and galleries have soared since we scrapped admission charges," she said. "Better still, all the evidence suggests that this increase is being sustained."

Between April and August this year The British Museum received 2,118,518 visitors. © 24 Hour Museum.

The figures comprise the total visits to each DCMS sponsored museum or gallery and its branch institutions.

For example, between April and August this year the Imperial War Museum was visited by 325,036 people, while the entire Imperial War Museum organisation, including branches in Manchester and Duxford, received 994,447 visitors.

Updated every month, the figures will help researchers and museum staff spot seasonal trends and work out why some months might see more visitors through the door than others.

"By publishing regular statistics of visitor numbers," added Estelle Morris, "all of us working in the sector will be better able to spot trends, and do even more to build on success so far."

The National Railway Museum's 84,170 visitors in July leapt to 140,019 in August. © National Railway Museum.

However, it has been suggested that some people might take the information out of context and make unfair comparisons, creating some sort of museum 'league table'.

Sam Mullins, Director of the Association of Independent Museums told the 24 Hour Museum that a museum's success cannot just be measured in terms of how many people visit.

"What museums have is a creative and complex approach," said Sam, "and visitor numbers are only one aspect of measuring their achievements."

The Wallace Collection in central London boasts 144,766 visitors from April to August this year. Courtesy The Wallace Collection.

Speaking to the 24 Hour Museum a DCMS spokesperson said that in response to the growing interest in visit figures, they were pleased to be able to publish them on the DCMS website on a monthly basis.

"This simple and objective presentation will enable everyone to see clearly both the monthly trend in visit figures as well as the annual figures already published in the Department's Annual Report," said the spokesperson.

"It will also provide a more up to date source of visit information that we hope will be useful to the tourist industry, students and many others who have expressed an interest in this data."

To see the visitor figure as they stand at the moment, visit the DCMS website.