# List of fastest-selling albums

This is a list of the world's fastest-selling albums of recorded music. To appear on the list, the figure must have been published by a reliable source and all sales must have occurred in the first week of release. This list can contain any type of album, including studio albums, extended plays, greatest hits, compilations, various artists, soundtracks and remixes. Market order within the article is ranked alphabetically. Albums within each table are listed in order of number of copies sold and thereafter by the artist's first name.

## Argentina

This is a list of the fastest-selling albums in Argentina.
| Year | Title | Artist | Sales | Ref. |
| 1997 | Romances | Luis Miguel | 400,000 | |

## Cameroon

| Year | Title | Artist | Sales | Ref. |
| 1996 | Class F/M [fr] | Petit-Pays | 50,000 | |

## Canada

This is a list of the fastest-selling albums in Canada since Nielsen SoundScan tracking began in 1995. 25 by Adele is the fastest-selling album of all time in Canada with over 305,928 copies sold in its first seven days of release.
| Rank | Year | Title | Artist | Sales |
| 1 | 2015 | 25 | Adele | 306,000 |
| 2 | 1997 | Let's Talk About Love | Céline Dion | 230,212 |
| 3 | 1999 | Millennium | Backstreet Boys | 191,791 |
| 4 | 2003 | Star Académie | Star Académie | 173,000 |
| 5 | 2000 | Black & Blue | Backstreet Boys | 156,307 |
| 6 | 2002 | A New Day Has Come | Céline Dion | 151,600 |
| 7 | 2002 | Up! | Shania Twain | 150,000 |
| 8 | 2024 | The Tortured Poets Department | Taylor Swift | 150,000 |
| 9 | 2008 | Black Ice | AC/DC | 119,000 |
| 10 | 2006 | I Think of You | Gregory Charles | 109,000 |

## Chile

| Year | Title | Artist | Sales | Ref. |
| 1994 | Segundo Romance | Luis Miguel | 50,000 | |

## China

This is a list of the fastest-selling albums in China.
| Year | Title | Artist | Sales | Ref. |
| 2022 | Greatest Works of Art | Jay Chou | 5,000,000 | |

## Colombia

This is a list of the fastest-selling albums in Colombia.
| Year | Title | Artist | Sales/Shipments |
| 1997 | Tengo Fe | Carlos Vives | 300,000 |
| 2013 | Loco de Amor | Juanes | 240,000 |
| 2013 | Corazón Profundo | Carlos Vives | 120,000 |
| 2009 | Clásicos de la Provincia II | Carlos Vives | 42,000 |
| 2007 | La Llave de Mi Corazon | Juan Luis Guerra | 17,000 |

## Denmark

| Year | Title | Artist | Sales | Ref. |
| 2008 | Show the World | Martin | 36,000 | |

## France

This is a list of the fastest-selling albums in France.
| Year | Title | Artist | Sales |
| 2018 | Mon pays c'est l'amour | Johnny Hallyday | 780,177 |
| 2002 | À la vie, à la mort | Johnny Hallyday | 305,634 |
| 2016 | Encore un soir | Celine Dion | 217,000 |
| 2013 | Random Access Memories | Daft Punk | 195,013 |
| 2015 | 25 | Adele | 169,693 |
| 2012 | Monkey Me | Mylène Farmer | 147,530 |
| 2011 | Bleu noir | Mylène Farmer | 139,176 |
| 2015 | Interstellaires | Mylène Farmer | 109,971 |

## Germany

This is a list of the fastest-selling albums in Germany.
| Year | Title | Artist | Sales |
| 2007 | 12 | Herbert Grönemeyer | >300,000 |
| 2017 | Helene Fischer | Helene Fischer | 300,000 |
| 2015 | 25 | Adele | 263,000 |
| 2019 | Untitled | Rammstein | 260,000 |

## Greece

| Year | Title | Artist | Sales | Ref. |
| 1998 | Antidoto | Anna Vissi | 80,000 | |

## Ireland

In Ireland, the fastest-selling album is The Best of 1980–1990 by U2 in November 1998.

## Japan

This is a list of the fastest-selling albums in Japan since Oricon was founded in November 1967. The top two sales records were achieved in the same week, on March 28, 2001, as both albums were promoted as a direct competition between J-pop singer-songwriters Hikaru Utada and Ayumi Hamasaki by their respective labels. Distance would debut at Number 1 in the first week, while A BEST would also reach Number 1 in the following week.
| Rank | Year | Title | Artist | Sales |
| 1 | 2001 | Distance | Hikaru Utada | 3,002,720 |
| 2 | 2001 | A Best | Ayumi Hamasaki | 2,874,870 |
| 3 | 1998 | The Best "Pleasure" | B'z | 2,709,530 |
| 4 | 1998 | The Best "Treasure" | B'z | 2,500,120 |
| 5 | 2002 | Deep River | Hikaru Utada | 2,350,170 |
| 6 | 2000 | Delicious Way | Mai Kuraki | 2,218,640 |
| 7 | 1999 | First Love | Hikaru Utada | 2,026,870 |
| 8 | 1997 | Review | Glay | 2,003,150 |
| 9 | 1996 | Sweet 19 Blues | Namie Amuro | 1,921,850 |
| 10 | 2002 | I Am... | Ayumi Hamasaki | 1,751,360 |

## Mexico

Luis Miguel holds several of the fastest-selling albums in Mexico. His seventh studio album Cómplices sold 320,000 units in its first day alone.
| Rank | Title | Artist | Sales |
| 1990 | 20 Años | Luis Miguel | 600,000 |
| 1994 | Segundo Romance | Luis Miguel | 600,000 |
| 1997 | Romances | Luis Miguel | 560,000 |
| 1996 | Nada Es Igual... | Luis Miguel | 500,000 |
| 2004 | México en la Piel | Luis Miguel | 400,000 |
| 2008 | Cómplices | Luis Miguel | 320,000 |
| 2005 | Nuestro Amor | RBD | 160,000 |

## New Zealand

This is a list of the fastest-selling albums in New Zealand since the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand, later renamed as Recorded Music NZ, was founded in 1972. 25 by Adele is the fastest-selling album of all time in NZ with over 18,766 copies sold in its first seven days following release.
| Rank | Year | Title | Artist | Sales | Ref. |
| 1 | 2015 | 25 | Adele | 18,766 | |
| 2 | 2009 | I Dreamed a Dream | Susan Boyle | 17,435 | |

## Sierra Leone

| Year | Title | Artist | Sales | Ref. |
| 2014 | Home and Away | Emmerson Bockarie | 28,000 | |
| 2016 | Survivor | Emmerson Bockarie | 12,000 | |

## Spain

| Year | Title | Artist | Sales |
| 2000 | El Alma al Aire | Alejandro Sanz | 1,000,000 |
| 2002 | Corazón latino | David Bisbal | 600,000 |
| 2003 | Divorcio | Julio Iglesias | 200,000 |
| 2000 | Alma Caribeña | Gloria Estefan | 150,000 |

## South Korea

This is a list of the fastest-selling albums in South Korea as recorded by the Hanteo Information System established in 1993. Seventeenth Heaven by Seventeen is the fastest-selling album of all time in South Korea with 5,091,887 copies shipped to stores in its first seven days of release.
| Rank | Year | Title | Artist | Sales |
| 1 | 2023 | Seventeenth Heaven | Seventeen | 5,091,887 |
| 2 | 2023 | 5-Star | Stray Kids | 4,617,499 |
| 3 | 2023 | FML | Seventeen | 4,550,214 |
| 4 | 2023 | ISTJ | NCT Dream | 3,652,897 |
| 5 | 2020 | Map of the Soul: 7 | BTS | 3,378,633 |
| 6 | 2024 | 17 Is Right Here | Seventeen | 2,960,000 |
| 7 | 2022 | Proof | BTS | 2,752,496 |
| 8 | 2023 | Golden | Jungkook | 2,438,483 |
| 9 | 2020 | Be | BTS | 2,274,882 |
| 10 | 2023 | The Name Chapter: Freefall | TXT | 2,251,959 |
* ↑ The Hanteo chart provides real-time daily, weekly, and monthly sales updates, but only accounts for data received from affiliated stores and therefore does not reflect the total sales of a given release. The Circle Album Chart (formerly Gaon), counts albums shipped to all stores regardless of affiliation, so there is always a noticeable difference between its figures and Hanteo's. Gaon, however, only began providing realtime data from 2019. Given this article's scope, and the limitations of existing sources, Hanteo's numbers alone are used.

## United Kingdom

This is a list of the fastest-selling albums in the United Kingdom. 25 by Adele is the fastest-selling album of all time in the UK with just over 803,000 copies sold in its first seven days.
| Rank | Year | Title | Artist | Sales |
| 1 | 2015 | 25 | Adele | 803,000 |
| 2 | 1997 | Be Here Now | Oasis | 696,000* |
| 3 | 2017 | ÷ | Ed Sheeran | 672,000 |
| 4 | 1963 | With the Beatles | The Beatles | 530,000 |
| 5 | 2010 | Progress | Take That | 518,601 |
| 6 | 2005 | X&Y | Coldplay | 464,471 |
| 7 | 2008 | The Circus | Take That | 432,490 |
| 8 | 2009 | I Dreamed a Dream | Susan Boyle | 411,820 |
| 9 | 2003 | Life for Rent | Dido | 400,351 |
| 10 | 2008 | Now That’s What I Call Music! 70 | Various Artists | 383,002 |
Notes:
* Be Here Now was unconventionally released on a Thursday and debuted at number one based on three-day sales of 696,000 copies. Sales accumulated during its first full week of availability, which went from Thursday to Wednesday, totaled 813,000 copies, which remains the most an album has sold in its first week on sale.
* 25 sold 439,000 copies in its second week.
* 25 sold 450,000 copies in its fifth week.

## United States

This is a list of the fastest-selling albums (pure sales) in the United States since Nielsen SoundScan tracking began on March 1, 1991. 25 by Adele is the fastest-selling album of all time in the US with 3,378,000 copies sold in its first seven days.
| Rank | Year | Title | Artist | Sales |
| 1 | 2015 | 25 | Adele | 3,378,000 |
| 2 | 2000 | No Strings Attached | NSYNC | 2,416,000 |
| 3 | 2024 | The Tortured Poets Department | Taylor Swift | 1,914,000 |
| 4 | 2001 | Celebrity | NSYNC | 1,880,000 |
| 5 | 2000 | The Marshall Mathers LP | Eminem | 1,760,000 |
| 6 | 2000 | Black & Blue | Backstreet Boys | 1,591,000 |
| 7 | 2004 | Encore | Eminem | 1,582,000 |
| 8 | 2023 | 1989 (Taylor's Version) | Taylor Swift | 1,359,000 |
| 9 | 2002 | The Eminem Show | Eminem | 1,322,000 |
| 10 | 2000 | Oops!... I Did It Again | Britney Spears | 1,319,000 |
| 11 | 2014 | 1989 | Taylor Swift | 1,287,000 |
| 12 | 2017 | Reputation | Taylor Swift | 1,216,000 |
| 13 | 2012 | Red | Taylor Swift | 1,208,000 |
| 14 | 2005 | The Massacre | 50 Cent | 1,141,000 |
| 15 | 2022 | Midnights | Taylor Swift | 1,140,000 |
| 16 | 1999 | Millennium | Backstreet Boys | 1,134,000 |
| 17 | 2011 | Born This Way | Lady Gaga | 1,108,000 |
| 18 | 2004 | Confessions | Usher | 1,096,000 |
| 19 | 1998 | Double Live | Garth Brooks | 1,095,000 |
| 20 | 2000 | Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water | Limp Bizkit | 1,055,000 |
| 21 | 2010 | Speak Now | Taylor Swift | 1,047,000 |
| 22 | 2004 | Feels Like Home | Norah Jones | 1,022,000 |
| 23 | 2008 | Tha Carter III | Lil Wayne | 1,006,000 |
Notes:
* ↑ denotes sales from The Eminem Show's second week of availability, which was its first full week of activity. In its opening week, only one day of sales—284,000 copies—was recorded as the album's release date was pushed up due to bootlegging. That totals to 1.606 million copies in its first eight days of availability.
* ↑ denotes sales from The Massacre's first four days of availability as the album was unconventionally released in the middle of an ongoing tracking week.

### Additional records
#### Pre-SoundScan era

The following albums predate the introduction of Nielsen SoundScan, and are possibly subject to manipulation or inflation as sales were self-reported by record labels:
* In 1963, John Fitzgerald Kennedy—A Memorial Album, recorded on the day of John F. Kennedy's assassination, sold 4 million copies at 99 cents each within six days of its release.
* In 1965, The Beatles' Rubber Soul sold 1,200,000 copies in "just the first nine days".
* In 1968, The Beatles' self-titled double album (often known as the "White Album") sold "almost two million in one week".
* In 1970, The Beatles' Let It Be allegedly had "a sale of 3,700,000 in just over 2 weeks".
* In 1971, Carole King's Music reportedly sold "1,300,000 copies on the day of its release in the U.S."
* In 1975, Elton John's Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, the first album to debut at number one on the Billboard 200, sold "1,400,000 in the U.S. in the first 4 days on the market".
* In 1984, Prince's Purple Rain sold 1.5 million copies in its debut week.
* In 1986, Bruce Springsteen's Live/1975–85 sold over 1.5 million copies during its first ten days.
* In 1987, Michael Jackson's Bad sold at more than 2.25 million copies during its first week

#### SoundScan era

* Although not in its opening week, Whitney Houston's The Bodyguard: Original Soundtrack Album moved 1,061,000 units during Christmas week 1992.
* Although not in its opening week, the Beatles' compilation 1 moved 1,258,667 units during Christmas week 2000.
* Encore by Eminem sold 1.58 million copies in its first ten days of availability, after an abbreviated three-day first week.
* 25 by Adele sold 1.11 million and 1.16 million copies in its second and fifth weeks of availability respectively.

## Worldwide

This is the list of the fastest selling albums worldwide within the first week of their release, based on figures published by reliable sources.
Colors :
| ‡ | Sales based in a single territory |
| Year | Album | Artist | Sales/Shipments |
| 1987 | Bad | Michael Jackson | 7 million |
| 2015 | 25 | Adele | 5.4 million |
| 1991 | Dangerous | Michael Jackson | 5 million |
| 2000 | Black and Blue | Backstreet Boys | 5 million |
| 2022 | Greatest Works of Art | Jay Chou | 5 million |
| 2023 | Seventeenth Heaven | Seventeen | 5 million |
| 2002 | Elvis: 30 Number 1 Hits | Elvis Presley | 4.7 million |
| 2023 | 5-Star | Stray Kids | 4.6 million |
| 2023 | FML | Seventeen | 4.5 million |
| 1963 | JFK: Memorial Album | John F Kennedy | 4 million |
| 2020 | Map of the Soul | BTS | 3.7 million |
| 2000 | 1 | The Beatles | 3.6 million |
| 2005 | Confessions on a Dance Floor | Madonna | 3.6 million |
| 2023 | ISTJ | NCT Dream | 3.6 million |
| 2023 | 1989 (Taylor's Version) | Taylor Swift | 3.5 million |
| 1968 | White Album | The Beatles | 3.3 Million |
| 1998 | Ray of Light | Madonna | 3 million |
| 2000 | Music | Madonna | 3 million |
| 2001 | Invincible | Michael Jackson | 3 million |
| 2010 | Michael | Michael Jackson | 3 million |
| 2001 | Distance | Hikaru Utada | 3 million |
| 2001 | A Best | Ayumi Hamasaki | 2.8 million |
| 2022 | Proof | BTS | 2.7 million |
| 1998 | B'z the Best Pleasure | B'z | 2.7 million |
| 2000 | Oops!... I Did It Again | Britney Spears | 2.5 Million |
| 1998 | B'z the Best Treasure | B'z | 2.5 million |
| 2000 | No Strings Attached | *NSYNC | 2.4 million |
| 2023 | Golden | Jungkook | 2.4 million |
| 1995 | History Past Present Future | Michael Jackson | 2.3 million |
| 2024 | The Tortured Poets Department | Taylor Swift | 2.3 million |
| 1998 | Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie | Alanis Morissette | 2.2 Million |
| 2020 | Be | BTS | 2.2 million |
| 2023 | The Name Chapter: Freefall | TXT | 2.2 million |
| 2022 | The Name Chapter: Temptation | TXT | 2.1 million |
| 2000 | The Marshall Mathers LP | Eminem | 2 million |
* Additional records: According to some estimates, Adele's 25 (2015) had the biggest first-week sales in a single territory, when surpassed 3 million-plus copies in the United States. Utada Hikaru's Distance (2001) and Ayumi Hamasaki's A Best (2001) previously sold 3 million and 2.8 million in Japan, respectively. In 2022, Jay Chou sold 5 million copies of Greatest Works of Art in China during its opening week, while John Fitzgerald Kennedy—A Memorial Album (1963) sold 4 million copies at 99 cents in the U.S.