List of best-selling albums of the 21st century

This is a list of the best-selling albums of the 21st century, based on IFPI certification and Nielsen SoundScan sales tracking. The criteria are that the album must have been published (including self-publishing by the artist), and the album must have shipped at least 10 million units starting from January 1, 2001. Units sold include physical copies and digital downloads.

Legend
Colors
Studio albums
Greatest hits and compilations
Soundtracks

30 million copies or more
Release
year		 Album Artist/s Nationality Worldwide sales
(in millions)		 Ref(s)
2011 21 Adele  United Kingdom 31.0 [1]

20–29 million copies
Release
year		 Album Artist/s Nationality Worldwide sales
(in millions)		 Ref(s)
2002 Come Away With Me Norah Jones  United States 27.0 [2]
2002 The Eminem Show Eminem  United States 27.0 [3]
2015 25 Adele  United Kingdom 23.0 [4]

13–19 million copies
Release
year		 Album Artist/s Nationality Worldwide sales
(in millions)		 Ref(s)
2003 Fallen Evanescence  United States 17.0 [5]
2006 Back to Black Amy Winehouse  United Kingdom 16.0 [6]
2003 Meteora Linkin Park  United States 16.0 [7]
2002 Let Go Avril Lavigne  Canada 16.0 [8]
2001 Britney Britney Spears  United States 15.0 [9]
2004 Confessions Usher  United States 15.0 [10]
2008 The Fame Lady Gaga  United States 15.0 [11]
2004 American Idiot Green Day  United States 15.0 [12]
2002 A Rush of Blood to the Head Coldplay  United Kingdom 15.0 [13][14]
2005 In Between Dreams Jack Johnson  United States 15.0 [15]
2001 Take Off Your Pants and Jacket Blink-182  United States 14.0 [16]
2001 Laundry Service Shakira  Colombia 13.0 [17]
2001 Aaliyah Aaliyah  United States 13.0 [18]
2001 Missundaztood Pink  United States 13.0 [19]
2005 X&Y Coldplay  United Kingdom 13.0 [14]
2005 Curtain Call: The Hits Eminem  United States 13.0 [20]

10–12 million copies
Release
year		 Album Artist/s Nationality Worldwide sales
(in millions)		 Ref(s)
2004 Breakaway Kelly Clarkson  United States 12.8 [21]
2001 Songs in A Minor Alicia Keys  United States 12.8 [22]
2002 A New Day Has Come Celine Dion  Canada 12.3 [23]
2004 Under My Skin Avril Lavigne  Canada 12.3 [24]
2003 Life for Rent Dido  United Kingdom 12.1 [25]
2003 Get Rich or Die Tryin' 50 Cent  United States 12.0 [26]
2006 Loose Nelly Furtado  Canada 12.0 [27]
2008 Sleep Through the Static Jack Johnson  United States 12.0 [15]
2008 Fearless Taylor Swift  United States 12.0 [28]
2011 Christmas Michael Bublé  Canada /  Italy 12.0 [29]
2003 Dangerously in Love Beyoncé  United States 11.0 [30]
2004 Back to Bedlam James Blunt  United Kingdom 11.0 [31]
2005 All the Right Reasons Nickelback  Canada 11.0 [32]
2004 Encore Eminem  United States 11.0 [33]
2010 Recovery Eminem  United States 10.0 [34]
2002 Stripped Christina Aguilera  United States 10.0 [35][36]
2005 Confessions on a Dance Floor Madonna  United States 10.0 [37]
2005 The Emancipation of Mimi Mariah Carey  United States 10.0 [38]
2001 Silver Side Up Nickelback  Canada 10.0 [32]
2002 Justified Justin Timberlake  United States 10.0 [39]
2002 Songs About Jane Maroon 5  United States 10.0 [40]
2006 FutureSex/LoveSounds Justin Timberlake  United States 10.0 [39]
2008 Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends Coldplay  United Kingdom 10.0 [14]
2009 I Dreamed a Dream Susan Boyle  United Kingdom 10.0 [41]
2014 1989 Taylor Swift  United States 10.0 [42]

Best-selling album by year

The charts of the best-selling albums by year in the world are compiled by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) annually since 2001. These charts are published in their two annual reports, the Digital Music Report and the Recording Industry in Numbers. Both the Digital Music Report and the Recording Industry in Numbers were replaced in 2016 by the Global Music Report.[43] BTS's Map of the Soul: Persona would likely have been the best-selling album of 2019, with 3.7 million copies sold worldwide, according to South Korea's Gaon chart, but the sales were massively under-reported to the IFPI, whose reports that year were based on self-certified submissions from record labels. BTS's label, Big Hit Entertainment, only reported the 2.5 million sales confirmed by the Hanteo chart, which is based on sales volume in South Korea, therefore leaving a large number of overseas sales unaccounted for.[44]

YearAlbumArtist/sNationalitySales
(in millions)		Source
2001 Hybrid Theory Linkin Park  United States 10 [45]
2002 The Eminem Show Eminem  United States 12.9 [46]
2003 Come Away with Me Norah Jones  United States 16.0 [47]
2004 Confessions Usher  United States 12.0 [48]
2005 X&Y Coldplay  United Kingdom 7.3 [49]
2006 High School Musical Various Artists — 7.0 [50]
2007 High School Musical 2 — 6.0 [51]
2008 Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends Coldplay  United Kingdom 6.8 [52]
2009 I Dreamed a Dream Susan Boyle  United Kingdom 6.4 [53]
2010 Recovery Eminem  United States 5.2 [54]
2011 21 Adele  United Kingdom 18.1 [46]
2012 8.3 [55]
2013 Midnight Memories One Direction United Kingdom /  Ireland 4.0 [56]
2014 Frozen Various Artists — 10.0 [57]
2015 25 Adele  United Kingdom 17.4 [58]
2016 Lemonade Beyoncé  United States 2.5 [59]
2017 ÷ Ed Sheeran  United Kingdom 6.1 [60]
2018 The Greatest Showman Hugh Jackman & Various Artists — 3.5 [61]
2019 5x20 All the Best!! 1999–2019 Arashi  Japan 3.3 [62]

See also

References
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