Paul Walker, iPhone 5s and 'Royal Baby' are Google Zeitgeist most searched for 2013

The annual report on the most popular news items and topics shows what the nation wanted to know in 2013

Search giant Google has released their annual Zeitgeist report, revealing the news stories and questions that most occupied the nation during 2013.

As with previous years the year's top searche terms are mostly people, with famous figures that died this year providing the most common category.

American actor and The Fast and the Furious star Paul Walker was the number one most searched for term in the UK, with Canadian actor Cory Monteith (best known for his role in Glee) the fourth most queried term. South African revolutionary Nelson Mandela was in the sixth spot and former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher the ninth.

Top ten most searched for people and celebrities

Proving our continuing obsession with new gadgetry and technology, the iPhone 5s and the Xbox One also appeared in the top ten in the second and tenth spot respectively, whilst the Grand National and Universal Jobmatch took the seventh and eighth spots, suggesting other activities that occupied the nation’s thoughts.

“Our annual Zeitgeist survey provides a fascinating snapshot of our interests and obsessions for the year,” said Claudine Beaumont of Google UK. "Celebrities always get a lot of interest and the passing of well-known figures makes people want to learn more about them.

Top ten most searched for TV shows

"Despite that, some of the more traditional aspects of British life, from the Grand National to the royal birth, have generated many Google searches and will be remembered as events that have characterised the year."

The ‘Royal Baby’ was the third most searched for term in the UK in 2013, see below for the full list of the nation’s interests:

Prince George, with parents the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, was the third most searched for term. (Jason Bell/Camera Press)

Top UK searches of 2013:

1. Paul Walker
2. iPhone 5S
3. Royal baby
4. Cory Monteith
5. Oscar Pistorius
6. Nelson Mandela
7. Grand National
8. Universal Jobmatch
9. Margaret Thatcher
10. Xbox One

Comparing this UK-specific list with the top global searches reveals similar world interests, with Mandela, Paul Walker, iPhone 5s, Cory Monteith and the 'Royal Baby' all featuring, though there were some substitutions and additions.

As well as the inevitable excitement around Apple's latest smartphone, global searches better reflected the threat to the Californian tech giant from South Korean phone manufacturer Samsung: their Galaxy S4 smartphone was the eighth most searched for term.

It also seems that in terms of worldwide interest, Sony have beaten Microsoft in the console wars, with the PlayStation 4 coming in as the ninth most searched for term in the world, beating its rival, the Xbox One - despite the fact that the latter took the number 10 spot in the UK.

Top trending global searches:

1. Nelson Mandela
2. Paul Walker
3. iPhone 5s
4. Cory Monteith
5. Harlem Shake
6. Boston Marathon
7. Royal Baby
8. Samsung Galaxy 4s
9. PlayStation 4
10. North Korea