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Harry Potter book sales
The Harry Potter books hold the title as the best-selling fantasy book series ever and are also the top-selling book series overall, with more than 500 million copies sold worldwide. This puts them ahead of other popular series like Goosebumps and Perry Mason.
In the United States alone, the series has sold an impressive 180 million copies.
Across all the books in the series, there are more than 1 million words, totaling 1,084,170 words.
How many copies has each book sold?
| Book | Copies Sold UK | Copies Sold Worldwide |
| Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone | 4.2 million | 120 million |
| Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets | 3.5 million | 77 million |
| Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | 3.4 million | 65 million |
| Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | 3.6 million | 65 million |
| Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | 4.2 million | 65 million |
| Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince | 4.1 million | 65 million |
| Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows | 4.5 million | 65 million |
| Total book sales | 27.4 million | 500 million+ |
How many copies of Harry Potter were sold in the first year?
- The initial hardcover print run of the Harry Potter series consisted of 500 copies.
- Out of these, 200 copies were sold to readers, while the remaining 300 found their place in libraries.
- The author, J.K. Rowling, received an advance of $4,000 for the book.
- Within just two years, “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” sold over 300,000 copies in the UK alone.
US rights and initial sales
- Scholastic purchased the U.S. rights to the Harry Potter series for $105,000, a record amount they had ever paid for a children’s book.
- To appeal more to young readers, they decided to change “Philosopher” to “Sorcerer” in the title.
- The book was released in October 1998, and by December 1998, it made its first appearance on the New York Times bestseller list.
- It remained on that list for an impressive 82 consecutive weeks.
- “The Goblet of Fire,” the fourth installment, marked the first time a book in the series was released simultaneously in both the USA and the UK.
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Harry Potter sales records
- In 2018, global sales surpassed 500 million
- “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” sold 3 million copies in the U.S. during its first weekend
- Each subsequent book broke the previous one’s sales record
- “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” sold 6.9 million copies in the first 24 hours
- “The Deathly Hallows” sold 8.3 million copies in the first 24 hours, the fastest-selling fiction book in history at 96 books per second
- “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” is the best-selling book in the series, with 120 million copies sold worldwide
- The 8 movies grossed over $9 billion globally
- The Harry Potter franchise generated over $25 billion in sales
- Every book reached #1 on the USA Today bestseller list
- Combined, the books spent 1,739 weeks on the USA Today bestseller list
- The series stayed on the New York Times bestseller list for 10 consecutive years
- J.K. Rowling was the highest-paid author in 2016, earning $95 million
- The franchise now includes extended universe movies (Fantastic Beasts), theme parks, and a Broadway play
Harry Potter cultural significance
- 18% of people have read all the Harry Potter books
- 31% have read at least one book
- Among 18-34-year-olds, 32% have read all the books
- 48% of 18-34-year-olds have read at least one book
- 25% of Americans have seen all the movies
- 61% of Americans have seen at least one movie
When was each Harry Potter book first published?
| Book | Publish Date |
| Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone | 26 June 1997 |
| Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets | 2 July 1998 |
| Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | 8 July 1999 |
| Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | 8 July 2000 |
| Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | 21 June 2003 |
| Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince | 16 July 2005 |
| Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows | 21 July 2007 |
How long are the Harry Potter books?
| Book | Pages | Words | Audiobook |
| Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone | 223 | 76,944 | 9 hrs and 33 mins |
| Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets | 251 | 85,141 | 11 hrs and 5 mins |
| Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | 317 | 107,253 | 13 hrs and 10 mins |
| Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | 636 | 190,637 | 22 hrs and 17 mins |
| Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | 766 | 257,045 | 30 hrs and 18 mins |
| Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince | 607 | 168,923 | 21 hrs and 27 mins |
| Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows | 607 | 198,227 | 24 hrs |
| Total | 3,407 | 1,084,170 | 131 hrs 50 mins or 5 days 11hrs 50 mins |
What awards did Harry Potter books and JK Rowling win?
| Award | For | Year |
| Nestlé Smarties Book Prize Gold Award | Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone | 1997 |
| FCBG Children’s Book Award, Longer Novel | Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone | 1997 |
| Birmingham Cable Children’s Book Award | Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone | 1997 |
| Sheffield Children’s Book Award | Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone | 1998 |
| Nestlé Smarties Book Prize Gold Award | Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets | 1998 |
| Young Telegraph Paperback of the Year | Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone | 1998 |
| British Children’s Book of the Year | Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone | 1998 |
| North East Scotland Book Award | Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets | 1998 |
| The Bookseller Association Author of the Year | – | 1998 |
| Nestlé Smarties Book Prize, Gold Award | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | 1999 |
| National Book Awards Children’s Book of the Year | Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets | 1999 |
| North East Book Award | Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets | 1999 |
| Whitbread Children’s Book of the Year | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | 1999 |
| Scottish Arts Council Children’s Book Award | Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets | 1999 |
| British Book Awards, Author of the Year | – | 2000 |
| Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) | Services to Children’s Literature | 2000 |
| Locus Award | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | 2000 |
| Whitaker’s Platinum Book Award | Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone | 2001 |
| Hugo Award for Best Novel | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | 2001 |
| Premio Príncipe de Asturias | – | 2003 |
| Bram Stoker Award for Best Work for Young Readers | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | 2003 |
| British Book Awards | Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince | 2006 |
| Gold Blue Peter Badge | – | 2007 |
| Barbara Walters’ Most Fascinating Person of the year | – | 2007 |
| British Book Awards Outstanding Achievement Award | – | 2008 |
| The Edinburgh Award | – | 2008 |
| Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award | – | 2010 |
| Freedom of the City of London | – | 2012 |
| Nation’s favourite children’s book, Booktrust’s 100 best books for children | Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone | 2013 |
| Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) | Services to literature and philanthropy | 2017 |
How many languages has Harry Potter been translated into?
The books have officially been translated into 80 distinct languages.\
- Afrikaans
- Albanian
- Arabic
- Armenian
- Asturian
- Azerbaijani
- Basque
- Belarusian
- Bengali
- Bosnian
- Breton
- Bulgarian
- Catalan
- Chinese (Simplified and Traditional)
- Croatian
- Czech
- Danish
- Dutch
- Estonian
- Faroese
- Japanese
- Khmer
- Kazakh
- Korean
- Latin
- Latvian
- Lithuanian
- Luxembourgish
- Macedonian
- Malay
- Malayalam
- Māori
- Marathi
- Mongolian
- Nepali
- Norwegian
- Occitan
- Persian
- Polish
- European Portuguese
- Filipino
- Finnish
- French
- West Frisian
- Galician
- Georgian
- German
- Low German
- Ancient Greek
- Modern Greek
- Greenlandic
- Gujarati
- Hawaiian
- Hebrew
- Hindi
- Hungarian
- Icelandic
- Indonesian
- Irish
- Italian
- Brazilian Portuguese
- Romanian
- Russian
- Scots
- Serbian
- Sinhala
- Slovak
- Slovene
- Spanish
- Swedish
- Tamil
- Telugu
- Thai
- Tibetan
- Turkish
- Ukrainian
- Urdu
- Vietnamese
- Welsh
- Yiddish
What makes up the Harry Potter franchise?
The Harry Potter franchise consists of 7 core books, 3 supplementary or extended universe books, 1 play, and 10 movies.
7 core Harry Potter books (in order):
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
3 supplementary books:
- Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
- Quidditch Through the Ages
- The Tales of Beedle The Bard
1 play: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
10 movies (in order):
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
- Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
- Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
FAQ’s
1.How many books are in the core Harry Potter series?
The core Harry Potter series consists of 7 books.
2.How many copies of the Harry Potter books have been sold worldwide?
Over 500 million copies of the Harry Potter books have been sold worldwide.
3.Which Harry Potter book sold the most copies?
“Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” is the best-selling book in the series, with 120 million copies sold worldwide.
4.How many words are there in the entire Harry Potter series?
The Harry Potter series contains a total of 1,084,170 words.
5.How quickly did “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” sell after its release?
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” sold 8.3 million copies in the first 24 hours, making it the fastest-selling fiction book in history.
6.How much was J.K. Rowling paid for the U.S. rights to the first Harry Potter book?
Scholastic paid $105,000 for the U.S. rights to “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone,” which was renamed “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.”
7.How long did the Harry Potter series stay on the New York Times bestseller list?
The Harry Potter series remained on the New York Times bestseller list for 10 consecutive years.
8.What percentage of people have read at least one Harry Potter book?
Approximately 31% of people have read at least one Harry Potter book.
9.How many languages have the Harry Potter books been translated into?
The Harry Potter books have been translated into over 80 languages.
10.How many Harry Potter movies have been made?
There are 8 movies based on the Harry Potter books and 2 movies in the “Fantastic Beasts” series.
11.What was the first Harry Potter book to be released simultaneously in the U.S. and the U.K.?
“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” was the first book to be released simultaneously in both the U.S. and the U.K.
12.How many copies did “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” sell in the first 24 hours?
“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” sold 6.9 million copies in its first 24 hours of release.
13.How many Americans have seen all of the Harry Potter movies?
About 25% of Americans have seen all of the Harry Potter movies.
14.How much did J.K. Rowling earn in 2016?
J.K. Rowling earned $95 million in 2016, making her the highest-paid author in the world that year.
15.What is the estimated value of the Harry Potter franchise?
The Harry Potter franchise, including books, movies, merchandise, and more, is estimated to be worth over $25 billion.
16.How many weeks did the Harry Potter books spend on the USA Today bestseller list?
The Harry Potter books spent a combined total of 1,739 weeks on the USA Today bestseller list.
17.What is the name of the play included in the Harry Potter franchise?
The play is called “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.”
18.How many supplementary or extended universe books are part of the Harry Potter franchise?
There are 3 supplementary or extended universe books: “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” “Quidditch Through the Ages,” and “The Tales of Beedle the Bard.”
19.How many copies did “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” sell in the U.S. during its first weekend?
“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” sold 3 million copies in the U.S. during its first weekend.
20.How many extended universe movies are there in the Harry Potter franchise?
There are currently 2 extended universe movies: “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” and “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.”
