The bible has been translated into 349 languages, and a survey conducted by the bible society concluded that. In the year 2017, the top selling bible translation was the christian standard bible updated in the same year, according to the bible sources. Unsurprisingly, the most popular book of all time has an interesting history. In 1995, one version of the bible, the good news version that is ed by the bible societies, had sold nearly 18 million copies. According to guinness world records as of 1995, the bible is the bestselling book of all time, with an estimated 5 billion copies sold and distributed. Guinness world records estimates that over five billion copies of the bible have been sold, making it the bestselling book of all time. Should we now send dictionaries along with it as certain cultures do not understand english. The holy bible, quotations from chairman mao tsetung, harry potter, the lord of the rings, the alchemist, the da vinci code, the night saga, gone with the wind, think and grow rich, and the diary of anne frank according to writer james chapman who created a list of the most read books in the world based on the number of copies each. Though bibles are not free, gods truth is always available for free. This article possibly contains inappropriate or misinterpreted citations that do not verify the text. Another group upheld it as the worlds mostread books. The most popular book of all time christian universities online. Jun 24, 2012 even though the bible has been translated, published, read, studied, analyzed, bought, sold and given away freely since then, particularly in the english speaking world, it is still banned in many communities. Although it is impossible to obtain exact figures, there is little doubt that the bible is the worlds bestselling and most widely distributed book.
The most popular book of all time christian universities. March 2018 learn how and when to remove this template message. The third group considered it as the mostprinted and mostdistributed book. It was written by several authors inspired by the holy spirit over a period of time. Additionally, since the bible is sold worldwide, calculating exact numbers becomes tricky. First of all, the most important criterion for determining the success of a book is sales and distributions. Sep 17, 2016 if you are referring to a nonreligious book. The huffington post article actually named 16 books that have sold the most copies worldwide, noting that the bible is the top seller in the world.
The bible is easily one of the bestselling books of all time, but exact sales numbers are hard to nail down. Aug 18, 2014 the most read book in the world is the bible or the quran please dont tell me you think a simple fantasy book is more read than a book thats been around for thousands of years and is read by. In order to create our list of the top bible translations in 2018, we checked resources such as the christian book expo, thoughtco, calvary chapel eastside church and bible sources for the most. The bible, which ranks as the worlds mostread book, has sold 3. The worlds most widely distributed book the bible is the most widely read book in history.
The most read book in the world is the bible or the quran please dont tell me you think a simple fantasy book is more read than a book thats been around for thousands of years and is read by. Fifty shades of grey is britains bestselling book ever according to the. With thousands of translations, over forty original authors, and a two millennium history, lets take a look at the trails, tribulations, changes, and status of the worlds most popular book. Over 100 million bibles are sold or given away for free every year in the world, according to the economist. It is common knowledge that don quixote has sold over 500 million copies, and in fact, that number is conservative.
The bible society alone has a world wide distribution of 24 million bibles, 26 million new testaments and 577 million portions of scripture each year. All my life ive been told the best selling book in the world is the bible. Many devout christians are quick to assert that the holy bible is the worlds bestselling book, for all time. I hope the below estimations show that the quran is in fact the most read book. Rowlings harry potter series, which is the most successful movie franchise in the world, ranked third with 400 million copies sold worldwide. It is also the most widely and given some of the liberties taken, wildly translated book of all time, too. Please help improve this article by checking for citation inaccuracies. With all those caveats in mind and not including ebook sales, here are. For example, how do you measure the popularity of a book. Stockbyte getty images scholars can debate endlessly over which book is the best of all time, but finding out which ones have enjoyed the most commercial success should be a more concrete endeavor.
May 25, 2017 more than 2,100 languages have at least one book of the bible in that language. For the record, the excluded books have sold an estimated hundreds of millions of copies each several billion, in the bible s case and would have taken most of the top positions on the list. Harry potter and the philosophers stone is one of the bestselling books with more than 120 million sales to date. Nov 15, 20 researcher james chapman has compiled this look at the top 10 most read books in the world. Find the top 100 most popular items in amazon books best sellers. The 10 most read books in the world infographic business. Many devout christians are quick to assert that the holy bible is. Also, it is worth noting that some religious and political books such as the bible. Harry potter and the philosophers stones plot revolves around a young wizard, harry potter, who has magical powers that he explores in a wizardry. One group claimed the bible as the worlds bestselling book. The alltime most popular books in the world revealed posted by.
It addresses inward, private thoughts and feelings, as well as outward, publicly expressed words and actions. Rowling wrote this english fantasy book which bloomsbury published in 1997. The bible is most definitely, the greatest book in the world. The top 10 most read books in the world list challenges. This page includes a list of the 25 bestselling books of alltime as well as the 25 bestselling book series of alltime.
What is the second best selling book of all time after. According to guinness world records as of 1995, the bible is the best selling book of all time, with an estimated 5 billion copies sold and distributed. So lets have a look at the most expensive books that have been sold all around the world. The alltime most popular books in the world revealed. The best selling books in the world famous books on sale in. Similarly, many notable book series that sold very widely are poorly documented or consist of multiple subseries. List of most expensive books and manuscripts wikipedia. The bible has sold billions of copies and is the best selling book of all time.
The bible is the most widely distributed and bestselling book in the world. The bible is the number one best selling book in all of history. The bible has been translated into 349 languages, and a survey conducted by the bible society concluded. The 21 bestselling books of all time howstuffworks. The second bestselling book of all time crisis magazine. However, many more copies have been given away for free, meaning the actual number of bibles in circulation is unknown. Mar 26, 2008 the bible is the most sold book in the world. Yes, the bible is still the best seller in the world and it is the only book inspired by god 2peter 1. Bible most owned, least read book in history columbus. Can you think of any book that can be sold in millions of dollars. And everyone has questions about the biblefrom the senior pastor of the big church down the road to the guest at the hotel off the interstate. What is the most widely read book in the world answers.
This is a general question and you should not take offence to this. The bible is easily one of the bestselling books of all time, but exact sales numbers. Yes, some people have spent such a huge amount just for a single book. This does not include the over 1 million new testaments distributed each week by the gideons. Writer james chapman created a list of the most read books in the world based on the number of copies each book sold over the last 50 years he found. Discover the best christian bibles in best sellers. With all those caveats in mind and not including e book sales, here are the 21 bestselling books of all time, as far as we can tell.
Is the bible still the bestselling book in the world. Is the most popular book of all time the one that has been read the most often or the one that has sold the most copies. The bible tops the list of the most read books in the world. Best selling book in the world proud of every wrinkle. List of literary works by number of translations wikipedia. Hi all, here is my opinion based on facts and partly on assumptions. Jan 28, 2016 the gutenberg bible is probably the most valuable book or type of book in the world. One key factor here is the simple age of the document. A survey by the bible society concluded that around 2. What is the second best selling book of all time after the. Did you know that the bible is one of the most shoplifted books of all time. Chapman created the list by examining how many individual copies of the books had been printed and sold over the last 50 years.
Jan 06, 2019 all my life ive been told the best selling book in the world is the bible. The worlds most widely distributed book watchtower. Regardless of what you think of all the entries, if our want to understand the world around you and the people in it, reading these books cover to cover would be a good start. But in spite of the bans and the persecution the bible still enjoys the greatest popularity of any book ever produced in human language. This debut book by ernest cline was released in 2011 and soon became a worldwide publishing phenomenon. Despite being the most religious and religiously diverse country in the world, americans are largely biblically illiterate. Although it is impossible to obtain exact figures, there is little doubt that the bible is the world s bestselling and most widely distributed book. Writer james chapman created a list of the most read books in the world based on the number of copies each. Writer james chapman created a list of the most read books in the world based on the number of copies each book sold over the last 50 years. The book with most sales in 2018 across all formats on, and in amazon books stores was a sciencefiction novel ready player one. According to guinness world records as of 1995, the bible is the bestselling book of all time, with an estimated 5 billion. The best any other book can hope for is second place and a very distant second place at that.
According to christians, the bible is the word of god. The holy bible, quotations from chairman mao tsetung, harry potter, the lord of the rings, the alchemist, the da vinci code, the night saga, gone with the wind, think and grow rich, and the diary of anne frank. Why is the bible the best selling book in the world. The bible, which ranks as the world s most read book, has sold 3. The bible has also been translated more times, and into more languages, than any other book. Nov 27, 2008 the bible is the number one best selling book in all of history. It is often regarded as the second best selling book behind only the bible, and at least conceded as the greatest selling work of fiction of all time, without out a close second. What is the number one best selling book in the world, and. Researcher james chapman has compiled this look at the top 10 mostread books in the world. Some claim that the bible is the worlds most shoplifted book. For example, the most popular or top selling bible translations in 2016, according to the rose publishing, were the new international version and the king james version. Oct 10, 2016 sure, the bestselling book of alltime is, of course, the bible. If you would like to learn more about the bible and its author, jehovah god, i highly encourage you to visit.
Oct 17, 2012 one group claimed the bible as the worlds bestselling book. No matter which guide you use, though, there are problems making precise calculations. Shedding light on the worlds most important book seed, hal on. Between 1815 and 1975, it was estimated that there could have been 5 billion bibles printed. More than 2,100 languages have at least one book of the bible in that language. Is bible the worlds bestselling or mostread or most. First of all everything youve said about the bible is exactly the same but for the quran. The book of psalms easily wins, probably because it is both the longest book in the bible 150 chapters and it covers every human emotion and every circumstance in life. More copies have been distributed of the bible than of any other book. Genesis, written by moses, is the first book, while revelation, written by john the apostle, is the last book.