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 of digital audio streaming in 2014. During the 2010s, sales of singles have been monitored by the OCC and compiled weekly as the UK Singles Chart.

Since July 2014, the UK Singles Chart has been based on streaming figures as well as physical/digital purchases, however the OCC still compiles a 'sales' (only) chart.

Best-selling singles based on paid-for sales

The biggest selling single in the 2010s in the UK based on paid-for sales is "Happy" by Pharrell Williams, which has sold over 1,920,000 copies. During the decade, 37 singles released in the 2010s sold over 1 million copies—the highest number to achieve this within the decade of their release. Due to the growth of streaming and the consequent fall in paid for sales during the 2010s, all of the highest selling singles are from the first half of the decade, with Uptown Funk being the most recently released single to achieve sales of one million copies.

Sales figures are derived from the OCC list published on 19 September 2017.

+Best-selling singles of the 2010s in the UKSingleArtistYearCopiessoldChartpeak1"Happy"Pharrell Williams20131,921,80512"Blurred Lines"Robin Thicke featuring T.I. and Pharrell Williams20131,667,61513"Uptown Funk"Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars20141,647,31014"Someone like You"Adele20111,644,59715"Moves Like Jagger"Maroon 5 featuring Christina Aguilera20111,536,04126"Somebody That I Used to Know"Gotye featuring Kimbra20121,515,52717"Wake Me Up!"Avicii featuring Aloe Blacc20131,483,34618"Get Lucky"Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams20131,471,35619"We Found Love"Rihanna featuring Calvin Harris20111,415,416110"Call Me Maybe"Carly Rae Jepsen20121,358,631111"Just the Way You Are (Amazing)"Bruno Mars20101,331,684112"Impossible"James Arthur20121,310,169113"Gangnam Style"Psy20121,304,437114"Titanium"David Guetta featuring Sia20121,300,566115"Party Rock Anthem"LMFAO featuring Lauren Bennett and GoonRock20111,284,335116"Rather Be"Clean Bandit featuring Jess Glynne20141,283,122117"All of Me"John Legend20131,259,708218"Love the Way You Lie"Eminem featuring Rihanna20101,258,763219"Let Her Go"Passenger20131,243,336220"Price Tag"Jessie J featuring B.o.B20111,228,371121"Thinking Out Loud"Ed Sheeran20141,219,184122"Only Girl (In the World)"Rihanna20101,162,460123"Starships"Nicki Minaj20121,162,065224"We Are Young"fun. featuring Janelle Monáe20121,145,195125"Counting Stars"OneRepublic20131,132,526126""Ed Sheeran20111,118,825327"Roar"Katy Perry20131,112,787128"Diamonds"Rihanna20121,098,959129"Firework"Katy Perry20101,091,743330"Rolling in the Deep"Adele20101,086,347231"La La La"Naughty Boy featuring Sam Smith20131,070,199132"Give Me Everything"Pitbull featuring Ne-Yo, Afrojack and Nayer20111,050,457133"Don't You Worry Child"Swedish House Mafia featuring John Martin20121,018,874134"When We Collide"Matt Cardle20101,017,149135"Jar of Hearts"Christina Perri20111,018,874436"What Makes You Beautiful"One Direction20111,010,042137"Forget You"CeeLo Green20101,002,504138"Sexy and I Know It"LMFAO2011999,080539"Grenade"Bruno Mars2010997,862140"Paradise"Coldplay2011995,8081

Best-selling songs of the 2010s 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. These are the biggest selling songs released in the 2010s based on combined physical, download and streaming sales.

As of September 2017, there were 146 songs released in the 2010s with over a million combined sales, nine of these with over 2 million. In October 2017, "Shape of You" by Ed Sheeran became the first song from the decade to reach 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 4,200,000 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 Williams 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 "Cheap Thrills" Sia 2 2015 517,082 1,247,640 1,764,721 21 "Moves Like Jagger" Maroon 5 featuring Christina Aguilera 2 2011 1,536,041 207,813 1,743,854 22 "Somebody That I Used to Know" Gotye featuring Kimbra 1 2011 1,515,527 212,192 1,727,719 23 "Pompeii" Bastille 2 2013 959,693 749,011 1,708,704 24 "7 Years" Lukas Graham 1 2015 653,657 1,054,211 1,707,868 25 "We Found Love" Rihanna 1 2011 1,415,416 288,533 1,703,948 26 "Waves" Mr Probz 1 2013 933,555 757,402 1,690,957 27 "Castle on the Hill" Ed Sheeran 2 2017 478,716 1,192,607 1,671,322 28 "Stay with Me" Sam Smith 1 2014 834,622 832,637 1,667,260 29 "Titanium" David Guetta ft. Sia 1 2011 1,300,566 351,632 1,652,198 30 "Counting Stars" OneRepublic 1 2013 1,132,526 507,982 1,640,508

See also List of best-selling singles of the 2000s (century) in the United Kingdom List of best-selling albums of the 2010s in the United Kingdom

References