The Guinness World Records 2025 has reclaimed the top spot on the Official UK Top 50, marking the 47th time the iconic annual collection has led the chart since its inception. This achievement comes amid a mixed week for book sales, with the Guinness title showing a notable week-on-week sales improvement of 43.8%, although overall sales remain slightly down compared to the same week in 2023.
The Guinness World Records 2025 edition has sold 145,834 copies so far, representing a 27.9% decline compared to the previous year. However, the gap between this year’s edition and last year’s has narrowed to just over 6,000 copies, reflecting a rebound in sales in the current week.
The success of the Guinness title stands out in a generally positive week for the UK book market, with total book sales through Nielsen BookScan’s Total Consumer Market (TCM) seeing a strong 27.9% week-on-week increase. A total of 5.8 million books were sold, generating £55.7 million in revenue, although sales were slightly down by 1.9% in volume and 2.9% in value when compared to the same week last year.
While Guinness World Records 2025 performed well, last week’s number one, Pinch of Nom: All in One by Kay & Kate Allinson, saw a dramatic drop, falling to 10th place with a 59.9% week-on-week decline. This drop was notably steeper than the same book’s performance last year, which saw 13,000 more copies sold during its second week.
Despite this, several books in the top 10 have experienced sales boosts. The Private Eye Annual, for instance, saw a 51.3% increase in sales, reaching 12,300 copies, although it is still down almost 20% from the same period in 2023. Miranda Hart’s I Haven’t Been Entirely Honest with You also saw a strong increase, moving up to fifth place with an additional 4,580 copies sold.
Richard Osman’s We Solve Murders returned to second place overall, marking a 52.1% sales increase from the previous week. The book also topped the Original Fiction chart for the sixth week running, surpassing last year’s The Last Devil to Die by 400 units.
Asako Yuzuki’s Butter saw a dramatic sales surge, jumping 207% week-on-week and landing in 10th place in the UK Top 50. The book’s boost comes following its selection as Waterstones’ Book of the Year, pushing its total sales past 10,000 units for the first time since its release in February.
In the Mass Market Fiction (MMF) category, Orbital by Samantha Harvey continues to dominate with sales of 23,417 copies, maintaining its third-place position in the overall TCM. Meanwhile, Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros, although still in second place on the MMF chart, saw a decline in sales, with nearly 7,000 fewer copies sold than during its launch week.
One of the most notable shifts in this week’s chart was the rise of Wicked by Gregory Maguire. The book surged 17 places to third in the overall chart, likely due to renewed interest following the release of the film adaptation of the West End musical.
In the children’s book market, Hot Mess by Jeff Kinney, the 19th installment in the Wimpy Kid series, rose two places to fourth in the UK Top 50. With 17,269 copies sold this week, it continues to lead the bestselling children’s book category, outselling its closest competitor, National Geographic’s Weird But True! by nearly 7,000 copies.
The paperback non-fiction (PBNF) chart has also had a strong week, with the total top 20 seeing a 36.6% increase in sales. Among the notable titles in this category is Murdle by GT Karber, which saw a 68% boost in sales. However, the top spot in the PBNF chart was claimed by The 1% Club by Bantam, which sold 8,581 copies, edging out Murdle by a narrow margin.
Overall, this week has seen significant gains in book sales, with many titles making impressive comebacks or setting new records. Despite some challenges, the market continues to show resilience, driven by strong performances from both long-standing favorites and newer titles.
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