Here at NIQ BookData, we collect print book sales data in 19 different territories (France, United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Australia, Brazil, Poland, India, Netherlands, Belgium: Wallonia, Belgium: Flanders, Mexico, Switzerland: German language, Switzerland: Romandy, Portugal, Ireland, South Africa, Colombia, and New Zealand), and it’s always fascinating to dig into the differences and similarities between these markets, especially as online discovery connects readers around the world. One author that’s certainly connected a lot of readers is Freida McFadden, who had five of the top ten print books for 2025 across the territories we measure, based on combined sales for all editions and translations. The Housemaid was the runner-up in 2024 and managed to improve upon that in 2025, taking the overall top spot, with The Housemaid’s Secret moving up to second, from seventh in the previous year. They’re joined by The Housemaid is Watching and even novella The Housemaid’s Wedding, along with Never Lie from McFadden’s extensive list.
France played a significant role in those positions, contributing two-thirds of sales for the five McFadden titles altogether, more than double the country’s share of the total 2025 global market measure. One more title benefited from a large French share, Asterix in Lusitania, putting it at third in the global bestsellers, although it was also the overall bestseller for the year in Portugal and both Romandy and the German language Swiss market. The Secret of Secrets by Dan Brown wasn’t quite as concentrated in Europe as Asterix and McFadden’s books, with the broad split shown below, but European markets still accounted for the majority of sales, in this case led by Italy (where it was the top title for the year, along with the Netherlands and Flanders) and the UK ahead of France.
That leaves us with three books achieving a more varied global profile, with at least 30% of sales measured beyond Europe. Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros and Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins did still see their highest sales come from the UK but with Australia next, while The Let Them Theory by Mel & Sawyer Robbins had Australia as the largest territory and about half of total sales coming from non-European countries. The self-help book was the overall bestseller in five markets (Poland, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa), plus the non-fiction bestseller in the Netherlands, giving it the most appearances at the top of any sector chart.
Further to that, The Let Them Theory ranked within the top ten print books in eight of the measured territories in 2025, matching The Secret of Secrets but surpassed by The Housemaid, which banked nine top ten appearances (including the number one spot in France, Spain and Wallonia). Onyx Storm achieved seven placements, followed by six for Asterix in Lusitania and five for Sunrise on the Reaping. Extending beyond our featured titles, we also have past bestsellers sticking around: Atomic Habits by James Clear, which ranked third globally in 2024, still made the top ten in five markets in 2025, peaking at first in Mexico for the year. Bringing in new books, Joël Dicker’s La Très Catastrophique Visite du Zoo also claimed five top ten spots but missed out on the global top ten, after his previous title ranked sixth in 2024.
That goes to show that even beyond the massive titles at the top, there are plenty of books connecting readers across borders and languages, alongside those that are unique to one region or market. You can have two countries on opposite sides of the world with the same fiction bestseller (Italy and Colombia for example, both with The Secret of Secrets) and yet completely different non-fiction, only connected by the authors’ initials (Francesco by Aldo Cazzullo in Italy and Cómo mandar a la mierda de forma educada by Alba Cardalda in Colombia). The wonder of books, you can find connections anywhere!
The global bestsellers and international market performance feature in the UK Book Market in Review 2025, which is available now. You can view a preview here, and for more information on that report or any of these markets, please contact infobookresearch@nielseniq.com.
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