# List of best-selling singles by year in the United Kingdom

This is a list of the best-selling singles on the UK Singles Chart for each year. Note that the Number sold section denotes the number sold within the year, not in total, as very often the single continues to sell more in later years (and sometimes other singles released within a particular year will go on to outsell the year-end winner – e.g., Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan's "Especially for You", from 1988, ultimately outsold "Mistletoe and Wine").
The best-selling UK single of all time is "Candle in the Wind 1997/Something About The Way You Look Tonight" by Elton John, which sold 4,770,000 copies.

## Best-selling singles by year

| Year | Single | Artist | Number sold | Number sold and streamed |
| 1952 | "Here in My Heart" | Al Martino | | N/A |
| 1953 | "I Believe" | Frankie Laine | | N/A |
| 1954 | "Secret Love" | Doris Day | | N/A |
| 1955 | "Rose Marie" | Slim Whitman | | N/A |
| 1956 | "I'll Be Home" | Pat Boone | | N/A |
| 1957 | "Diana" | Paul Anka | | N/A |
| 1958 | "Jailhouse Rock" | Elvis Presley | | N/A |
| 1959 | "Living Doll" | Cliff Richard | 800,000 | N/A |
| 1960 | "It's Now or Never" | Elvis Presley | | N/A |
| 1961 | "Wooden Heart" | Elvis Presley | | N/A |
| 1962 | "I Remember You" | Frank Ifield | | N/A |
| 1963 | "She Loves You" | The Beatles | 1,300,000 | N/A |
| 1964 | "Can't Buy Me Love" | The Beatles | | N/A |
| 1965 | "Tears" | Ken Dodd | 1,268,000 | N/A |
| 1966 | "Green, Green Grass of Home" | Tom Jones | 850,000 | N/A |
| 1967 | "Release Me" | Engelbert Humperdinck | | N/A |
| 1968 | "Hey Jude" | The Beatles | | N/A |
| 1969 | "Sugar, Sugar" | The Archies | | N/A |
| 1970 | "In the Summertime" | Mungo Jerry | | N/A |
| 1971 | "My Sweet Lord" | George Harrison | 700,000 | N/A |
| 1972 | "Amazing Grace" | The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Band | | N/A |
| 1973 | "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" | Dawn featuring Tony Orlando | | N/A |
| 1974 | "Tiger Feet" | Mud | 730,000 | N/A |
| 1975 | "Bye Bye Baby" | Bay City Rollers | | N/A |
| 1976 | "Save Your Kisses for Me" | Brotherhood of Man | 1,006,000 | N/A |
| 1977 | "Mull of Kintyre" / "Girls' School" | Wings | 2,000,000 | N/A |
| 1978 | "Rivers of Babylon" / "Brown Girl in the Ring" | Boney M. | 1,995,000 | N/A |
| 1979 | "Bright Eyes" | Art Garfunkel | 1,155,000 | N/A |
| 1980 | "Don't Stand So Close to Me" | The Police | 808,000 | N/A |
| 1981 | "Don't You Want Me" | The Human League | 1,150,000 | N/A |
| 1982 | "Come On Eileen" | Dexys Midnight Runners | 1,200,000 | N/A |
| 1983 | "Karma Chameleon" | Culture Club | 1,390,000 | N/A |
| 1984 | "Do They Know It's Christmas?"* | Band Aid | 3,000,000 | N/A |
| 1985 | "The Power of Love" | Jennifer Rush | 1,280,000 | N/A |
| 1986 | "Don't Leave Me This Way" | The Communards | 745,000 | N/A |
| 1987 | "Never Gonna Give You Up" | Rick Astley | 759,000 | N/A |
| 1988 | "Mistletoe and Wine" | Cliff Richard | 750,000 | N/A |
| 1989 | "Ride On Time" | Black Box | 960,000 | N/A |
| 1990 | "Unchained Melody" | The Righteous Brothers | 840,000 | N/A |
| 1991 | "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" | Bryan Adams | 1,850,000 | |
| 1992 | "I Will Always Love You" | Whitney Houston | 1,500,000 | N/A |
| 1993 | "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)" | Meat Loaf | 720,000 | N/A |
| 1994 | "Love Is All Around" | Wet Wet Wet | 1,783,000 | N/A |
| 1995 | "Unchained Melody" | Robson & Jerome | 1,840,000 | N/A |
| 1996 | "Killing Me Softly" | Fugees | 1,360,000 | N/A |
| 1997 | "Candle in the Wind 1997" / "Something About the Way You Look Tonight"* | Elton John | 4,770,000 | N/A |
| 1998 | "Believe" | Cher | 1,830,000 | N/A |
| 1999 | "...Baby One More Time" | Britney Spears | 1,445,000 | N/A |
| 2000 | "Can We Fix It?" | Bob the Builder | 853,000 | N/A |
| 2001 | "It Wasn't Me" | Shaggy featuring Rikrok | 1,151,000 | N/A |
| 2002 | "Anything Is Possible" / "Evergreen" | Will Young | 1,783,919 | N/A |
| 2003 | "Where Is the Love?" | The Black Eyed Peas | 625,198 | N/A |
| 2004 | "Do They Know It's Christmas?"* | Band Aid 20 | 1,065,000 | N/A |
| 2005 | "Is This the Way to Amarillo"* | Tony Christie featuring Peter Kay | 1,100,200 | N/A |
| 2006 | "Crazy" | Gnarls Barkley | 820,053 | N/A |
| 2007 | "Bleeding Love" | Leona Lewis | 788,000 | N/A |
| 2008 | "Hallelujah" | Alexandra Burke | 888,000 | N/A |
| 2009 | "Poker Face" | Lady Gaga | 882,059 | N/A |
| 2010 | "Love the Way You Lie" | Eminem featuring Rihanna | | N/A |
| 2011 | "Someone like You" | Adele | 1,996,000 | N/A |
| 2012 | "Somebody That I Used to Know" | Gotye featuring Kimbra | 1,318,000 | N/A |
| 2013 | "Blurred Lines" | Robin Thicke featuring T.I. and Pharrell Williams | 1,470,000 | N/A |
| 2014 | "Happy" | Pharrell Williams | 1,500,000 | 1,620,000 |
| 2015 | "Uptown Funk" | Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars | | 1,760,000 |
| 2016 | "One Dance" | Drake featuring Wizkid & Kyla | 530,000 | 1,950,000 |
| 2017 | "Shape of You" | Ed Sheeran | 787,000 | 3,200,000 |
| 2018 | "One Kiss" | Calvin Harris and Dua Lipa | 244,000 | 1,570,000 |
| 2019 | "Someone You Loved" | Lewis Capaldi | | 2,300,000 |
| 2020 | "Blinding Lights" | The Weeknd | | 2,200,000 |
| 2021 | "Bad Habits" | Ed Sheeran | 142,000 | 1,700,000 |
| 2022 | "As It Was" | Harry Styles | 65,000 | 1,550,000 |
| 2023 | "Flowers" | Miley Cyrus | 91,000 | 1,700,000 |
| 2024 | "Stick Season" | Noah Kahan | | 1,990,000 |

## Best-selling singles by decade

| Decade | Single | Artist |
| 1950s | "Rock Around the Clock" | Bill Haley & His Comets |
| 1960s | "She Loves You" | The Beatles |
| 1970s | "Mull of Kintyre" / "Girls' School" | Paul McCartney and Wings |
| 1980s | "Do They Know It's Christmas?" | Band Aid |
| 1990s | "Something About the Way You Look Tonight" / "Candle in the Wind 1997" | Elton John |
| 2000s | "Anything Is Possible" / "Evergreen" | Will Young |
| 2010s | "Shape of You" | Ed Sheeran |