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Best-Selling Books of All Time

A Tale of Two Cities is reported at more than 200 million copies, tied with The Little Prince, the top single novels. Estimated sales, series excluded.

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What the data shows

  • , A Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens, 1859) and The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, 1943) share #1 with 200M, ahead of The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho, 1988) (150M).

About this chart

Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities (1859) is reported at more than 200 million copies, shown here as 200 million, level with Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince (1943) at about 200 million. Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist (1988) follows at an estimated 150 million, and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (1997) at more than 120 million. Four books sit at about 100 million: And Then There Were None, Dream of the Red Chamber, The Hobbit and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

These are estimates, many of them round publisher or press claims rather than audited counts. The chart covers individual titles only, so series are left out: the Harry Potter series has sold over 600 million copies overall. Religious texts are excluded too. Guinness World Records lists the Bible at an estimated 5 to 7 billion copies. The most recent title above 75 million is The Da Vinci Code (2003) at about 80 million.

The data

Source: Wikipedia, List of best-selling books (individual books; sales estimates cited by Wikipedia from publishers, press and Guinness). Retrieved November 4, 2026. Estimated, approximate sales for individual titles; many are round publisher or press claims, not audited. A Tale of Two Cities is reported as 'more than 200 million' and shown as 200. Religious texts (the Bible, estimated 5 to 7 billion copies by Guinness World Records) and other books not on Wikipedia's individual-books list are excluded. Series are excluded (Harry Potter series is over 600 million). Ties at 100 million, 80 million and 60 million are ordered as on the source page.

Best-Selling Books of All Time, Estimated copies sold, millions (single titles), Copies sold (millions)
DateA Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens, 1859)The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, 1943)The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho, 1988)Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (J. K. Rowling, 1997)And Then There Were None (Agatha Christie, 1939)Dream of the Red Chamber (Cao Xueqin, 1791)The Hobbit (J. R. R. Tolkien, 1937)Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll, 1865)She: A History of Adventure (H. Rider Haggard, 1887)The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown, 2003)Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (J. K. Rowling, 1998)The Catcher in the Rye (J. D. Salinger, 1951)Sophie's World (Jostein Gaarder, 1991)The Bridges of Madison County (Robert James Waller, 1992)
Copies sold (millions)200M200M150M120M100M100M100M100M83M80M77M65M60M60M

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Frequently asked questions

What is the best-selling book of all time?

Among individual novels, A Tale of Two Cities (1859) by Charles Dickens is reported at more than 200 million copies, tied with The Little Prince at about 200 million. Guinness lists the Bible at an estimated 5 to 7 billion copies, but religious texts are excluded here.

What is the best-selling Harry Potter book?

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (1997) has sold more than 120 million copies, the best seller in the series. The whole Harry Potter series has sold over 600 million copies.

Are these book sales exact?

No. They are estimates, and many are round claims from publishers or the press. Ties at 100, 80 and 60 million are ordered as on the source page.

Where does this data come from?

Wikipedia, List of best-selling books (individual books; sales estimates cited by Wikipedia from publishers, press and Guinness). Retrieved November 4, 2026. Estimated, approximate sales for individual titles; many are round publisher or press claims, not audited. A Tale of Two Cities is reported as 'more than 200 million' and shown as 200. Religious texts (the Bible, estimated 5 to 7 billion copies by Guinness World Records) and other books not on Wikipedia's individual-books list are excluded. Series are excluded (Harry Potter series is over 600 million). Ties at 100 million, 80 million and 60 million are ordered as on the source page. You can download the full table as a CSV from this page.

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