Aug. 14 (Bloomberg) -- More than 2 billion people, almost one third of the world's population, watched the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing on television, according to market researcher Nielsen Co.

The previous highest viewership was for the 2006 soccer World Cup, watched by 1.3 billion people, according to MindShare, a unit of WPP Group Plc.

Asia-Pacific had the highest percentage of viewers for this year's Games, with more than half of TV audiences in the region tuning in, followed by 30 percent in Europe, Haarlem, Netherlands based Nielsen said in a press release today.

Forty-four percent of South Korea's TV audience tuned in, while 43 percent watched in Greece, Nielsen said. The figures are based on the company's data from 38 markets worldwide, it said.

China was the country with the most viewers, according to the Nielsen statement, which didn't provide a figure.

The opening ceremony of the Olympics, the 29th in the modern era, began at 8:08 p.m. Beijing time on Aug. 8. The Games will end on Aug. 24.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tim Culpan in Taipei at tculpan1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: August 14, 2008 02:56 EDT