New Harry Potter book breaks records

8.3 million copies sold, 2.2 million worldwide pre-order the book online

23 July 2007 12:32 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

Amazon.com has announced the final worldwide pre-order figures for "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows".

The book has become the largest single-product distribution in Amazon.com’s history.

As of midnight, July 20, Amazon.com received more than 2.2 million pre-orders of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" on its websites across the world, shipping to more than 160 countries in all.

These new figures surpass the previous record - which was held by the sixth Harry Potter book.

On its busiest pre-launch day, Amazon.com took more than 1.75 pre-orders of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" per second.

Reuters estimates that 8.3 million copies of the book have been sold worldwide since it launched at midnight on Friday night.

In the UK, Waterstones said more than 250,000 fans turned up at midnight to its shops across the UK while the WH Smith chain sold 15 of the books per second.