Amazing website for nerds:

All sorts of publishing statistics, worldwide. PARAPUBLISHING.COM

Millions an gazillions of facts and figures: including

950,000 titles out of the 1.2 million tracked by Nielsen Bookscan sold fewer than 99 copies.

Another 200,000 sold fewer than 1,000 copies.

Only 25,000 sold more than 5,000 copies.

The average book in America sells about 500 copies.”

-- Publisher’s Weekly, July 17, 2006

Canada: 31% of adults did not read a single book for pleasure in 2007. (Compared to the U.S. at 27%.) -Ipsos Reid Survey

2007. Last year Brits bought an estimated 338 million books, at a cost of £2,478m. This was 13% higher by both volume and value than five years ago, according to the Book Marketing Limited's latest Books and the Consumer survey.