For the purposes of calculating sales, a single is currently defined by the Official Charts Company (OCC) as either a "single bundle" having no more than four tracks and not lasting longer than 25 minutes or one digital audio track not longer than 15 minutes with a minimum sale price of 40 pence. The rules have changed many times as technology has developed, the most notable being the inclusion of digital downloads in 2004 and streaming in 2014.

The best-selling single in the UK is "Something About the Way You Look Tonight"/"Candle in the Wind 1997", a double A-side released by Elton John following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. Since September 1997, the single has sold over 5.4 million copies in the UK.

Sales of singles have been monitored and charted in the UK since 1952, when Percy Dickins of New Musical Express (NME) telephoned around 20 record stores and aggregated their best-selling singles into a hit parade. Dickins published this Top 12 chart in NME on 14 November 1952.

The highest-selling single by a solo female artist is "All I Want for Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey. Released in October 1994, it has combined sales of over 4 million in the UK.

The best-selling single not to top the UK Singles Chart is "Mr. Brightside" by The Killers, which reached number 10 in 2004. When streaming is taken into account, "All of Me" by John Legend, which has over 2.1 million combined sales, is the highest-selling single not to have topped the charts.

The highest-selling single (paid-for purchases) in the 21st century is "Happy" by Pharrell Williams, which has sold 1.93 million; it overtook "Anything Is Possible" / "Evergreen" by Will Young in 2015.

The most streamed song is "Shape of You" by Ed Sheeran with over 200 million streams (2 million equivalent sales) from 2017. Twenty other songs have been streamed over 100 million times, including two more by Ed Sheeran.

Best-selling singles based on paid-for purchases Until June 2014, only a paid download or a purchase of a physical single counted as a sale. Based on this definition, these are the 50 best-selling singles in the UK. Positions are current .

SingleArtistRecord labelReleasedChartpeakTraditional sales1"Something About the Way You Look Tonight" / "Candle in the Wind 1997"Rocket14,940,0002"Do They Know It's Christmas?"Band AidMercury13,830,0003"Bohemian Rhapsody" / "These Are the Days of Our Lives"QueenEMI12,630,0004"Mull of Kintyre" / "Girls' School"WingsCapitol12,100,0005"You're the One That I Want" and Olivia Newton-JohnRSO12,080,0006"Relax"Frankie Goes to HollywoodZTT12,066,2307"Rivers of Babylon" / "Brown Girl in the Ring"Boney M.Atlantic/Hansa12,032,6568"Last Christmas" / "Everything She Wants"Wham!Epic11,931,0009"Happy"Pharrell WilliamsColumbia11,930,00010"She Loves You"Parlophone11,930,00011"Love Is All Around"Wet Wet Wet11,898,79012"Mary's Boy Child – Oh My Lord"Boney M.Atlantic/Hansa11,885,27413"I Just Called to Say I Love You"Motown11,874,22514""A&M115"Unchained Melody" / "White Cliffs of Dover"Robson & JeromeRCA11,867,75516"Barbie Girl"AquaUniversal11,844,31017"Believe"CherWEA11,826,57318"I Want to Hold Your Hand"The BeatlesParlophone11,810,82919 "Anything Is Possible" / "Evergreen"S11,795,21320"Imagine"Apple11,714,35121"Eye of the Tiger"SurvivorScotti Brothers11,650,29322"Uptown Funk"Mark Ronson featuring Bruno MarsRCA11,647,31023"I'll Be Missing You"Puff Daddy and Faith Evans featuring 112Bad Boy124"Blurred Lines"Robin Thicke featuring T.I. and Pharrell WilliamsInterscope11,667,16525"Someone like You"AdeleXL11,644,59726"Three Lions""3 Lions '98"Epic127"I Will Always Love You"Arista11,642,36028"Don't You Want Me"Virgin129"Summer Nights"John Travolta and Olivia Newton-JohnRSO11,640,67230"Two Tribes"Frankie Goes to HollywoodZTT11,629,28731"Gangsta's Paradise"Coolio featuring L.V.Tommy Boy11,585,50432"My Heart Will Go On"Epic11,583,27633"Jive11,570,00034"Wonderwall"OasisCreation235"Moves like Jagger"Maroon 5 featuring Christina AguileraA&M/Octone236"Careless Whisper"Epic137"Can't Buy Me Love"The BeatlesParlophone138"Perfect Day"Various artistsChrysalis11,550,01739"Karma Chameleon"Culture ClubVirgin11,528,49840"Somebody That I Used to Know"Gotye featuring KimbraIsland141"Y.M.C.A."Village PeopleMercury142"Wake Me Up"AviciiPositiva/PRMD143"Tears"Columbia11,523,69044"I Gotta Feeling"Interscope11,477,77845"Get Lucky"Daft Punk featuring Pharrell WilliamsColumbia11,471,35646"Killing Me Softly"FugeesColumbia11,457,64147"The Power of Love"Jennifer RushCBS11,456,08748"Come On Eileen"Dexys Midnight RunnersMercury Records149"It Wasn't Me"Shaggy featuring RikRokMCA150"Rock Around the Clock"Brunswick11,439,196

Best-selling songs based on combined sales (streaming-adjusted)

From 2014, streaming has counted towards sales (sometimes called "combined sales" or "chart sales") at the rate of 100 streams equal to one download or physical purchase, although the singles chart no longer uses this ratio. In September 2017, the OCC changed their definition of a 'million seller' to include streaming. Below are the best-selling singles by combined sales of over 1.8 million, based on sales and streaming equivalent, as of the latest data available.

Single Artist Chartpeak Released Sales Streaming equivalent Combined sales "Shape of You" 1 2017 — — 6,637,792 "Perfect" 1 2017 — — 6,000,000 "Something About the Way You Look Tonight" / "Candle in the Wind 1997" 1 1997 4,935,936 15,472 4,951,408 "Last Christmas" / "Everything She Wants" Wham! 1 1984 1,940,000 2,350,126 4,564,703 "Viva la Vida" Coldplay 1 2008 — — 4,200,000 "Do They Know It's Christmas?" Band Aid 1 1984 3,802,066 140,993 3,943,060 "Yellow" Coldplay 4 2000 — — 3,641,555 "Something Just Like This" The Chainsmokers and Coldplay 2 2017 — — 3,600,000"Someone Like You" Adele 1 2011 1,644,597 351,772 3,000,000 "Shake It Off" 2 2014 1,000,000 — 3,000,000"Billie Jean" Michael Jackson 1 1983 500,000 2,400,000 2,900,000 "Bohemian Rhapsody" Queen 1 1975 2,540,604 254,430 2,795,034 "Uptown Funk" featuring Bruno Mars 1 2014 1,647,310 1,076,160 2,723,470 "Happy" 1 2013 1,921,805 707,851 2,629,657 "A Sky Full of Stars" Coldplay 9 2014 — — 3,000,000 "Fix You" Coldplay 4 2005 — — 3,000,000 "The Scientist" Coldplay 10 2002 — — 3,000,000"Thinking Out Loud" 1 2014 1,219,184 1,302,119 2,521,302 "Hello" Adele 1 2015 948,618 906,431 2,500,000 "Torn" Natalie Imbruglia 2 1997 1,208,098 1,200,431 2,420,000 "Paradise" Coldplay 1 2011 — — 2,400,000 "Hymn for the Weekend" Coldplay 6 2015 — — 2,400,000 "Adventure of a Lifetime" Coldplay 7 2015 — — 2,400,000 "Photograph" 15 2015 — — 2,380,000"One Dance" Drake featuring Wizkid and Kyla 1 2016 553,973 1,791,007 2,344,981 "Rather Be" Clean Bandit featuring Jess Glynne 1 2014 1,283,122 935,575 2,218,697 "Blank Space" 4 2014 — — 2,200,000"Sorry" 1 2015 724,188 1,443,719 2,167,907 "All of Me" 2 2014 1,259,708 896,418 2,156,126 "You're the One that I Want" and Olivia Newton-John 1 1978 2,072,035 82,897 2,154,932 "Relax" Frankie Goes to Hollywood 1 1983 2,066,230 82,092 2,148,322 "Rolling in the Deep" Adele 2 2011 — — 2,100,000 "Mull of Kintyre" / "Girls' School" Wings 1 1977 2,086,183 1,066 2,087,249 "Love Yourself" 1 2015 718,549 1,340,666 2,059,215"Rivers of Babylon"/"Brown Girl in the Ring" Boney M. 1 1978 2,032,656 6,164 2,038,820 "Make You Feel My Love" Adele 4 2008 — — 2,000,000 "Love Story" 2 2009 — — 2,000,000"Wonderwall" Oasis 2 1995 1,502,270 493,671 1,995,940"Mary's Boy Child – Oh My Lord" Boney M. 1 1978 1,885,274 91,725 1,976,999"Wake Me Up!" Avicii 1 2013 1,483,346 484,035 1,967,381"She Loves You" 1 1963 1,922,275 31,099 1,953,374 "Take Me to Church" Hozier 2 2013 934,466 1,017,851 1,952,317 "Blurred Lines" featuring T.I. and Pharrell Williams 1 2013 1,667,615 284,004 1,951,619 "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" 1 1991 1,848,154 90,382 1,938,536 "Love Is All Around" Wet Wet Wet 1 1994 1,898,790 38,951 1,937,741 "Believe" Cher 1 1998 1,826,573 101,020 1,927,593"Cheerleader (Felix Jaehn Remix)" Omi 1 2014 861,086 1,057,439 1,918,526 "I Just Called to Say I Love You" 1 1984 1,874,225 38,303 1,912,528"Despacito (Remix)" featuring Daddy Yankee and Justin Bieber 1 2017 566,425 1,334,174 1,900,599"Barbie Girl" Aqua 1 1997 1,844,310 52,936 1,897,247"Eye of the Tiger" Survivor 1 1982 1,650,293 223,045 1,873,338"Unchained Melody" /"White Cliffs of Dover" Robson & Jerome 1 1995 1,867,755 4,214 1,871,969"I Want to Hold Your Hand" 1 1963 1,810,829 47,899 1,858,728"What Do You Mean?" 1 2015 533,581 1,320,256 1,853,837"Let Her Go" Passenger 2 2012 1,243,336 589,019 1,832,354"Get Lucky" Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams 1 2013 1,471,356 349,989 1,821,344"Earth SongMichael Jackson11995600,0001,200,0001,800,000

See also List of million-selling singles in the United Kingdom List of most-downloaded songs in the United Kingdom List of most-streamed songs in the United Kingdom List of Platinum singles in the United Kingdom awarded before 2000 List of Platinum singles in the United Kingdom awarded since 2000

Notes

References

External links Official UK Singles Top 100 at the Official Charts Company