Harry Potter books, by the numbers

(Photo by Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)

Breaking down the numbers that the Harry Potter books have achieved

Just in case you missed it, Harry Potter hit a huge milestone at the beginning of the month. The book series surpassed the 500 Million copies sold mark. It has been over 20 years since the first book, Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone, was first published and what a journey it has been on since then.

Bloomsbury Publications made the official announcement about the sales of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series hitting the milestone. This figure takes into account all seven books in the series along with the side stories as well. They also stated that Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone is the most popular of the series but Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is the fastest-selling novel.

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So in honour of this huge achievement and our love for Harry Potter, let’s take a look at all the other milestones the series has hit.

Harry Potter books, by the numbers

• The Harry Potter books have been translated into 80 different languages. Including languages like Latin, Albanian and Greek

• When Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was first released, 12 million copies were made ready for the release, the highest ever in history.

• According to J.K. Rowling herself, there is an estimated total of 3,000 wizards living in the United Kingdom.

• In total Harry Potter and the Philosophers stone comprises of 223 pages.

• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is the largest book of the series with a total of 766 pages.

• All seven Harry Potter books come to a total of 3,407 pages and 1,083,540 words.

• In total there are only 500 first edition copies of the first book, Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone. 350 hardback copies and 150 paperback

• During an auction in 2014, a full set of first edition copies of the Harry Potter books sold for £11,250.

• The Harry Potter brand is estimated to be worth a massive fifteen billion US dollars.

• It took 6 years for Rowling to complete Harry Potter and the Philosophers’ Stone.

• Rowling went to 12 separate publications when trying to get published. Only 1 expressed any interest and it was only because of young 8-year-old girl who read Rowling’s Manuscript that she got published.

• Approx 1 in every 15 people owns a Harry Potter

So that’s it. Harry Potter, the book series, by the numbers. The movies have a whole list of their own but that is a discussion for another day.

Next: J.K. Rowling tells us all what her secret to writing is

How many of the above facts did do you know? Are there any facts you want to mention? If so leave a comment below with your thoughts.