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, 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

30 million copies or more

YearAlbumArtist/sNationalityWorldwide sales
Ref
201121AdeleUnited Kingdom31.0

20–29 million copies

YearAlbumArtist/sNationalityWorldwide sales
Ref
2002Come Away With MeNorah JonesUnited States27.0
2002The Eminem ShowEminemUnited States27.0
201525AdeleUnited Kingdom23.0
2002Let GoAvril LavigneCanada20.8
2004ConfessionsUsherUnited States20.0

13–19 million copies

YearAlbumArtist/sNationalityWorldwide sales
Ref
2003FallenEvanescenceUnited States18.0
2006Back to BlackAmy WinehouseUnited Kingdom16.0
2003Meteora Linkin ParkUnited States16.0
2008The FameLady GagaUnited States15.0
2004American IdiotGreen DayUnited States15.0
2002A Rush of Blood to the HeadColdplayUnited Kingdom15.0
2005In Between DreamsJack JohnsonUnited States15.0
2001Take Off Your Pants and JacketBlink-182United States14.0
2001Laundry ServiceShakiraColombia13.0
2001MissundaztoodPinkUnited States13.0
2005X&YColdplayUnited Kingdom13.0
2005'EminemUnited States13.0'''

10–12 million copies

YearAlbumArtist/sNationalityWorldwide sales
Ref
2004BreakawayKelly ClarksonUnited States12.8
2001Songs in A MinorAlicia KeysUnited States12.8
2008FearlessTaylor SwiftUnited States12.6
2002A New Day Has ComeCeline DionCanada12.3
2004Under My SkinAvril LavigneCanada12.3
2003Life for RentDidoUnited Kingdom12.1
2003Get Rich or Die Tryin'50 CentUnited States12.0
2008Sleep Through the StaticJack JohnsonUnited States12.0
2003Dangerously in LoveBeyoncéUnited States11.0
2004Back to BedlamJames BluntUnited Kingdom11.0
2005All the Right ReasonsNickelbackCanada11.0
2004EncoreEminemUnited States11.0
2006LooseNelly FurtadoCanada10.0
2010RecoveryEminemUnited States10.0
2002StrippedChristina AguileraUnited States10.0
2005Confessions on a Dance FloorMadonnaUnited States10.0
2005The Emancipation of MimiMariah CareyUnited States10.0
2001Silver Side UpNickelbackCanada10.0
2002JustifiedJustin TimberlakeUnited States10.0
2002Songs About JaneMaroon 5United States10.0
2006FutureSex/LoveSoundsJustin TimberlakeUnited States10.0
2008Viva la Vida or Death and All His FriendsColdplayUnited Kingdom10.0
2009I Dreamed a DreamSusan BoyleUnited Kingdom10.0

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 annually since 2000. 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. BTS's ' 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.
YearAlbumArtist/sNationalitySales
Source
2001Hybrid TheoryLinkin ParkUnited States10
2002The Eminem ShowEminemUnited States12.9
2003Come Away with MeNorah JonesUnited States16.0
2004ConfessionsUsherUnited States10.0
2005X&YColdplayUnited Kingdom7.3
2006High School MusicalVarious Artists—7.0
2007High School Musical 2Various Artists—6.0
2008Viva la Vida or Death and All His FriendsColdplayUnited Kingdom6.8
2009I Dreamed a DreamSusan BoyleUnited Kingdom6.4
2010RecoveryEminemUnited States6.2
201121AdeleUnited Kingdom18.1
201221AdeleUnited Kingdom8.3
2013Midnight MemoriesOne Direction UK / Ireland4.0
2014FrozenVarious Artists—10.0
201525AdeleUnited Kingdom17.4
2016LemonadeBeyoncéUnited States2.5
2017÷Ed SheeranUnited Kingdom6.1
2018The Greatest Showman Various ArtistsUnited Kingdom4.0
20195x20 All the Best!! 1999–2019ArashiJapan3.3'''