Harry Potter book sales top 500 million worldwide

Sales of J K Rowling’s Harry Potter books have exceeded 500 million worldwide, according to Bloomsbury.

The figures take into account sales across all versions of the seven books in the series, which began with Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in 1997, as well as three companion volumes.

The books have been translated into 80 different languages, including Albanian, Azerbaijani, Hawaiian and Manx, and one in fifteen people in the world now owns a Harry Potter book, Bloomsbury claims.

The publisher also said Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is the best-selling book out of the series but Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is the fastest selling fiction title, not only out of the series but of all time.

Bloomsbury has released several different versions of the Harry Potter books over the years, including books illustrated by Jim Kay, and editions covered with the different house colours and designed by Levi Penfold. The company has also updated the companion volumes and a version of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, illustrated by Chris Riddell, will be released this year.

The sales announcement comes before the fourth annual Harry Potter Book Night, which will take place today (1st February).