Annual reports from some of the national capital's most popular attractions lay bare the impact of the pandemic and natural disasters on the number of people seeing exhibitions in person.

The Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House had a 33 per cent fall in visitors including school groups in 2019-2020 compared to the previous year.

COVID-19 forced the museum, like other national institutions, to close its doors for several months and look to deliver more exhibitions online.

Before the pandemic and bushfires struck, it was on track for a year of record visitor numbers.

Until the end of 2019, the museum had its highest school visitor numbers on record as 55,060 students and teachers participated in onsite and outreach learning programs.

"While the first six months of 2019-20 presented the museum's highest visitor numbers on record, with a 9 per cent year-on-year increase, the museum was dramatically affected by the unprecedented external events that occurred in the second half of 2019-20," it said.

"The impacts of bushfires and COVID-19 resulted in a dramatic decrease in on-site school visitation for terms one and two in 2020.

"In response, the museum focused on developing and delivering interactive digital excursions for teachers and schools to access remotely."

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The Australian War Memorial said COVID-19 had cancelled a large number of visits and programs from March 24, when it closed its doors.

Visitor numbers for the memorial, reaching 706,000, were a 44 per cent decrease when compared with 2018-19. It reopened to the public in July.

The National Gallery of Australia, which closed from March to June, said it had 534,000 on-site visitors in 2019-20, about 60 per cent of its 900,000 target.

Director Nick Mitzevich said state border closures further reduced visitor numbers, which fell to 10-15 per cent of expected levels.

"Although we worked closely with ACT Tourism to mitigate the risk to local tourism, to attract visitors back to Canberra and improve the gallery's economic outcome, the impact on the gallery's operations has been felt across the board through reduced revenue from the gallery's cafes, retail outlets and the cancellation of event bookings," he said.

The National Gallery said bushfires lowered tourist numbers in Canberra over the summer, traditionally the gallery's peak time. Its ticketed summer exhibition, Matisse & Picasso, had been on track to meet targets until visitors decreased significantly during and after the bushfires.

The National Museum of Australia said its on-site visitor numbers were also below target for the year.

Its January visitation was down 33 per cent compared to 2018-19, and COVID-19 restrictions closed the museum for about 10 weeks.