Harry Potter books stats and facts

Harry Potter book sales

Harry Potter books are the best-selling fantasy book series of all time and the best-selling books series overall, having sold over 500 million books worldwide, in front of the Goosebumps and Perry Mason series.

The series has sold an estimated 180 million books in the USA.

There are over 1 million words (1,084,170) in the Harry Potter book series.

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?

• Initially, 500 copies were published in hardcover
• 200 were sold, and 300 went to libraries
• Author, JK Rowling, received a $4,000 advance
• Within two years, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone sold more than 300,000 copies in the UK

US rights and initial sales

• Scholastic bought the US rights for $105,000
• It was the most Scholastic had ever paid an author for a children’s book
• Scholastic changed “philosopher” to “sorcerer” in the title to make it more child friendly
• It was released in October 1998
• In December 1998, it hit the New York Times bestseller list for the first time.
• It stayed on the list for 82 consecutive weeks.
• The Goblet of Fire, the fourth book, was the first time the book was released at the same time in the USA and the UK

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Harry Potter sales records

• In 2018, sales went past 500 million worldwide
• In the US, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire sold 3 million copies on its first weekend
• From then on, each book broke sales records set by the previous book
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince sold 6.9 million copies in the first 24 hours
• The Deathly Hallows, the fastest-selling fiction book in history, sold 8.3 million copies in the first 24 hours – that’s 96 books per second
• The first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, is the best-selling book in the series, with 120 million copies sold worldwide
• The 8 movies have grossed over $9 billion at the box office worldwide
• The Harry Potter franchise and everything that goes with it is believed to have made sales of over $25bn
• Every book made #1 on the USA Today bestseller list
• All the books spent a combined total of 1,739 weeks on the USA Today best-seller list
• The series spent 10 consecutive on the New York Times best-seller list.
• JK Rowling was the highest-paid author in the world in 2016, she made $95 million
• The franchise now includes extended universe movies (Fantastic Beasts,) theme parks, and a Broadway play.

Harry Potter cultural significance

A US survey found:

• 18% of people have read all of the Harry Potter books
• 31% have read at least one of the books
• Among 18-34 years-olds, 32% have read all the books, and 48% have sold at least one
• 25% of Americans had seen all of the movies, and 61% had seen at least one

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.

What makes up the Harry Potter franchise?

The Harry Potter franchise is made up of 7 core books, 3 supplementary or extended universe books, 1 play, and 10 movies.

7 core Harry Potter books (in order):

1. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
6. Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince
7. 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):

1. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire 
5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
6. Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince 
7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
8. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
9. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
10. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald