Here are the 25 most-read articles on Wikipedia in 2023

The popular online encyclopedia received a grand total of 84 billion views on the website this year alone

With many keen to learn more about the figure, searches for Oppenheimer grew, with over 25 million people reading about his life story.

Thu, 07 Dec, 2023 - 14:00

Mairead Sheehy

Oppenheimer, ChatGPT and the Cricket World Cup were among the most popular articles on Wikipedia this year.

The popular online encyclopedia has released its top 25 most-read articles of 2023, receiving a grand total of 84 billion views on the website this year alone.

The development of Artificial Intelligence and specifically, ChatGPT has taken the globe by storm this year, since its launch on November 30, 2022.

Since then, it has amassed one hundred million users on the site. Its popularity is cemented by the fact that it has taken the title of Wikipedia’s most popular article of the year.

With over 49 million page views in 2023 alone, it is clear many were either intrigued or terrified by this new phenomenon.

The list of deaths in 2023 took the second most read spot, with over 42 million people checking in on the loss of some well-known stars.

Friends star Matthew Perry and singer/songwriter Lisa-Marie Presley were among the deceased who made it onto the top 20 list after their deaths gripped the lives of many this year.

In July, cinema lovers were introduced to ‘Barbenheimer’ - the release of both Barbie and Oppenheimer on the same weekend.

While Greta Gerwig’s Barbie film exploded onto our screens, becoming the highest-grossing film in Ireland ever, Oppenheimer featured much higher on Wikipedia’s list, sitting comfortably at number five, generating 57% more page views.

Oppenheimer tells the tale of US nuclear physicist J Robert Oppenheimer, who helped to develop nuclear weapons throughout the Second World War.

With many keen to learn more about the figure, searches for Oppenheimer grew, with over 25 million people reading about his life story.

The 2023 Cricket World Cup took the third most-read spot on the list, followed by the Indian Premier League, which came in at number four.

Having gained additional traction from her widely successful worldwide Era's tour, pop sensation Taylor Swift featured on the list.

Despite the popularity of Cricket worldwide, this is the first time it has climbed onto the most-read list, generating 1.25 million views on the day of the tournament final, which Australia subsequently won.

Professional soccer players Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi were on the minds of many Internet users, with readers also viewing articles based on the Premier League, which sat at 16th most read out of the 25 articles.

Having gained additional traction from her widely successful worldwide Era's tour, pop sensation Taylor Swift featured on the list. Swift will play two back-to-back concerts in the Aviva Stadium next June.

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, news of the ongoing turmoil still dominates headlines. Over 12.7 million people read articles detailing the invasion.

Sitting at number 25, controversial media personality Andrew Tate featured heavily in the news this year. Tate, alongside his brother and two women, were arrested in Romania on December 29, 2022.

After his release from house arrest in August, Tate said his charges of rape, human trafficking and forming a criminal gang to exploit women are “based on nothing”.

The top 25 most read: