Its important collections led to the founding of other important museums such as the first Museum of Natural History in the Chopo building, the National Museum of History in the Chapultepec Castle in 1940, the National Museum of Anthropology in 1964. The National Museum of World Cultures is responsible for researching, conserving and disseminating a rich archaeological, historical and ethnographic collection that has more than 17 thousand objects of international origin. These collections have come through donations and loans from universities, museums and individuals around the world. It is a museum conceived to promote knowledge and respect for cultural diversity from a historical, anthropological and aesthetic vision.

Currently the museum has the permanent rooms of the Ancient Middle East (Pharaonic Egypt, Persia, the Levant and Mesopotamia); Mediterranean (classical Greece and ancient Rome); China, Korea, Japan and Türkiye. In addition, the institution promotes a dynamic program of temporary exhibitions. Various educational, artistic and academic activities are organized in its spaces.