Patrick Comerford
The viewing and reading figures for this blog continue to surprise me. These figures have passed the million mark three times this month, reaching the 33 million mark this evening (25 April 2026), having reached 32 million at the beginning of this week (19 April 2026) and 31 million earlier this month (8 April 2026).
This blog had already passed the million figure in readership numbers five times last month, reaching the 30 million mark by 29 March, 29 million four days earlier (25 March), 28 million on 20 March, 27 million on 12 March, and 26 million at the beginning of that month (1 March). The number of hits on two days last month were the highest daily figures I have ever recorded: 323,156 on 27 March 2026 and 318,307 on 1 March.
This year so far has seen a phenomenal amount of traffic on this blog, and continues to reach a volume of readers that I could never have expected when I first started blogging 16 years ago. Half the total hits (16.5 million) have been within little more than seven months, since 19 September 2025. The total hits last month were the highest monthly total ever (4,523,648), following the previous month’s record total of 3,386,504 in February 2026.
At the end of last year, this blog had 21 million hits (31 December 2025). So far this year, there have been more than 12 million hits or visitors in 2026, with about 2.5 million hits so far in April.
I first began blogging in 2010, and it took almost two years until July 2012 to reach half a million readers. Throughout this year and last, the daily figures continue to be overwhelming on many occasions. Of the 12 days of busiest traffic on this blog, two were this month (18 and 22 April 2026), five were last month, three were in February, one was in January, and two were in January 2025:
• 323,156 (27 March 2026)
• 318,307 (1 March 2026)
• 314,018 (28 February 2026)
• 301,449 (2 March 2026)
• 289,076 (11 January 2025)
• 285,366 (12 January 2025)
• 280,802 (26 February 2026)
• 273,022 (27 February 2026)
• 270,983 (25 March 2026)
• 267,134 (22 April 2026)
• 261,422 (13 January 2026)
• 256,384 (18 April 2026)
The number of readers continues to be overpowering and the daily averages are running at more than 100,000 or more hits a day so far this month. Ten years ago, the daily average was around 1,000.
To put today’s figure of 33 million in context:
About 33 million people visit Paris each year.
More than 33 million people are trapped in Sudan in what Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) describes as the largest humanitarian crisis in the world. More than 33 million people now require assistance, while nearly half the population faces acute food insecurity.
The metropolitan area of Tokyo in Japan has a population of about 33 million, making it the world’s third most populous megapolis, after Jakarta in Indonesia with 42 million people and Dhaka in Bangladesh with 37 million.
More than 33 million people were affected by floods in Pakistan in September 2022, and more than 1,700 people died, including more than 400 children.
33 million people in the US live with food allergies – 1 in 10 adults and 1 in 15 children.
The biggest library in the world is the Library of Congress in Washington DC with 33 million volumes of books … the world could be a little safer, I imagine, if the present incumbent of the White House had read even a tiny number of books
33 million square metres is 33,000 sq km and 33 million metres is 33,000 km.
Hainan Island in China is 33,000 sq km and is the 42nd largest island in the world. It was one of the last Nationalist strongholds to be taken over by the Communists in 1950. This is also size of the Odess oblast in Ukraine and the extent of Lake Tanganyika Lake i between Tanzania, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi and Zambia and second deepest lake in the world.
Giorgio Fouarge became the first man to travel around the world on a wooden bike. On his epic journey, Giorgio cycled over 33,000 km, across four continents and through 31 countries in 378 days. He has documented his journey in his book 33,000 km on a piece of wood.
Astronomers last year uncovered record-breaking supersonic winds on exoplanet WASP-127b, with speeds reaching up to 33,000 km per hour. This marks the first time such high-speed winds have been measured on a planet outside our solar system, setting a new record for the fastest jet stream winds observed on any planet.
WASP-127b is approximately 520 light years from Earth in the Milky Way galaxy. The jet streams on WASP-127b move almost six times faster than the planet rotates, reaching speeds of 9 km per second, approximately 33,000 km per hour.
33 million minutes is about 62 years, 9 months and 12 days. In other words, if this blog was getting only one hit a minute, it would take almost 63 years, from July 1963, to reach today’s latest figure of 33 million.
It is now more than four years since I retired from active parish ministry on 30 March 2022. These days, though, about 120-140 people on average are reading my daily prayer diary posted on this blog each morning. A similar number are reading my current series of postings on churches in the Rugeley and Stafford areas, and were reading my recent series of postings on the churches and chapels of Walsingham. I imagine many of my priest-colleagues would be prayerfully thankful if the congregations in their churches totalled 800-1,000 or more people each week.
This evening, I am very grateful to the real readers among those 33 million hits on this blog to date, and in particular I remain thankful to the faithful core group of about 100-120 people who join me in prayer, reading and reflections each day.
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