The UK Singles Chart is a music chart compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC) that calculates the best-selling singles of the week in the United Kingdom. Since 2005, the chart has been based on the sales of both physical and digital singles, initially on the condition that the single was available in both formats. In 2007, the rules were changed so that legal downloads of all songs, irrespective of whether a physical copy was available, were eligible to chart and since July 2014, streaming has been included.
Best-selling singles based on paid-for sales
This is a list of the sales of records released from 1 January 2001 onwards; sales for this period of records released before 2001 are not included. With sales of over 1,920,000, "Happy" by Pharrell Williams is the best-selling single in the UK since January 2001. Will Young's double A-side single "Anything Is Possible" / "Evergreen", which has sold over 1,790,000 million copies, is the second-biggest seller, followed by "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke featuring T.I. and Williams in third. The top five is completed by "Uptown Funk" at four and "Someone Like You" by Adele in fifth. As of September 2017, 62 singles released in the 2000s have sold over 1 million copies.
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 best-selling singles in the UK since 2001. Sales positions are current .
SingleArtistReleasedTraditional salesChartpeak1"Happy"Pharrell Williams1,921,80512 "Anything Is Possible" / "Evergreen"1,795,21313"Blurred Lines"Robin Thicke featuring T.I. and Pharrell Williams1,667,61514"Uptown Funk"Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars1,647,31015"Someone like You"Adele1,644,59716"Moves Like Jagger"Maroon 5 featuring Christina Aguilera1,536,04127"Somebody That I Used to Know"Gotye featuring Kimbra1,515,52718"Wake Me Up"Avicii1,483,34619"I Gotta Feeling"1,477,778110"Get Lucky"Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams1,471,356111"It Wasn't Me"Shaggy1,428,204112"We Found Love"Rihanna featuring Calvin Harris20111,415,416113"Sex on Fire"Kings of Leon20081,386,171114"Call Me Maybe"20121,358,631115"(Is This the Way to) Amarillo" featuring Peter Kay20051,354,478116"Unchained Melody"20021,345,850117"Just the Way You Are (Amazing)"20101,331,684118"Impossible"20121,310,169119"Hallelujah"20081,310,017120"Gangnam Style"Psy20121,304,437121"Titanium" featuring Sia20121,300,566122"Party Rock Anthem"LMFAO featuring Lauren Bennett and GoonRock20111,284,335123"Rather Be"Clean Bandit featuring Jess Glynne20141,283,122124"All of Me"John Legend20131,259,708225"Love the Way You Lie"Eminem featuring Rihanna20101,258,763226"Let Her Go"Passenger20131,243,336227"Price Tag"Jessie J featuring B.o.B20111,228,371128"Thinking Out Loud"Ed Sheeran20131,219,184129"Can't Get You Out of My Head"20011,195,229130"Do They Know It's Christmas?"Band Aid 2020041,184,396131"Poker Face"Lady Gaga20091,180,377132"Only Girl (In the World)"Rihanna20101,162,460133"Starships"Nicki Minaj20121,162,065134"Chasing Cars"Snow Patrol20061,159,099635"We Are Young"fun. featuring Janelle Monáe20121,145,195136"Counting Stars"OneRepublic20131,132,526137"Crazy"Gnarls Barkley20061,131,184138"The A Team"20111,118,825339"Use Somebody"Kings of Leon20081,115,392240"Bleeding Love"20071,114,5961
Best-selling songs based on combined sales 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. These are the biggest selling songs based on combined physical, download and streaming sales. As of September 2017 there were nine over 2 million and 185 over a million combined sales from the 2000s Century. In October 2017, "Shape of You" by Ed Sheeran became the first song from the 2000s Century to achieve 3 million combined sales.
Position Song Artist Peak Year Sales Streaming equivalent Combined sales 1 "Shape of You" Ed Sheeran 1 2017 754,754+ 2,121,706+ 3,006,404 2 "Uptown Funk" Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars 1 2014 1,647,310 1,076,160 2,723,470 3 "Happy" Pharrell Williams 1 2013 1,921,805 707,851 2,629,657 4 "Thinking Out Loud" Ed Sheeran 1 2014 1,219,184 1,302,119 2,521,302 5 "One Dance" Drake featuring Wizkid & Kyla 1 2016 553,973 1,791,007 2,344,981 6 "Rather Be" Clean Bandit featuring Jess Glynne 1 2014 1,283,122 935,575 2,218,697 7 "Sorry" Justin Bieber 1 2015 724,188 1,443,719 2,167,907 8 "All of Me" John Legend 2 2014 1,259,708 896,418 2,156,126 9 "Love Yourself" Justin Bieber 1 2015 718,549 1,340,666 2,059,215 10 "Someone Like You" Adele 1 2011 1,644,597 351,772 1,996,369 11 "Wake Me Up!" Avicii 1 2013 1,483,346 484,035 1,967,381 12 "Take Me to Church" Hozier 2 2013 934,466 1,017,851 1,952,317 13 "Blurred Lines" Robin Thicke featuring T.I. and Pharrell 1 2013 1,667,615 284,004 1,951,619 14 "Cheerleader (Felix Jaehn Remix)" Omi 1 2014 861,086 1,057,439 1,918,526 15 "Despacito (Remix)" Luis Fonsi featuring Daddy Yankee and Justin Bieber 1 2017 566,425 1,334,174 1,900,599 16 "Hello" Adele 1 2015 948,618 906,431 1,855,050 17 "What Do You Mean?" Justin Bieber 1 2015 533,581 1,320,256 1,853,837 18 "Let Her Go" Passenger 2 2012 1,243,336 589,019 1,832,354 19 "Get Lucky" Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams 1 2013 1,471,356 349,989 1,821,344 20 "Anything Is Possible" / "Evergreen" Will Young 1 2002 1,795,213 1,874 1,797,087 21 "Cheap Thrills" Sia 2 2015 517,082 1,247,640 1,764,721 22 "Moves Like Jagger" Maroon 5 featuring Christina Aguilera 2 2011 1,536,041 207,813 1,743,854 23 "Somebody That I Used to Know" Gotye featuring Kimbra 1 2011 1,515,527 212,192 1,727,719 24 "Mr. Brightside" The Killers 10 2004 967,180 750,991 1,718,170 25 "Pompeii" Bastille 2 2013 959,693 749,011 1,708,704 26 "7 Years" Lukas Graham 1 2015 653,657 1,054,211 1,707,868 27 "We Found Love" Rihanna 1 2011 1,415,416 288,533 1,703,948 28 "Sex on Fire" Kings of Leon 1 2008 1,386,171 315,931 1,702,103 29 "Waves"(Robin Schulz remix) Mr Probz 1 2013 933,555 757,402 1,690,957 30 "Castle on the Hill" Ed Sheeran 2 2017 478,716 1,192,607 1,671,322
See also List of best-selling singles of the 2000s (decade) in the United Kingdom List of best-selling singles of the 2010s in the United Kingdom
References