Lists of fastest-selling albums
A fast-selling album is defined as one with high sales in its first chart week following release.
Canada
This is a list of the fastest-selling albums in Canada since Nielsen SoundScan tracking began in 1995.| Rank | Year | Title | Artist | Sales | Reference |
| 1 | 2015 | 25 | Adele | 305,928 | |
| 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 | 2008 | Black Ice | AC/DC | 119,000 | |
| 9 | 2006 | I Think of You | Gregory Charles | 109,000 | |
| 10 | 2014 | 1989 | Taylor Swift | 107,000 |
France
This is a list of the fastest-selling albums in France.| Rank | Year | Title | Artist | Sales | Reference |
| 1 | 2018 | Mon pays c'est l'amour | Johnny Hallyday | 780,177 | |
| 2 | 2002 | À la vie, à la mort | Johnny Hallyday | 305,634 |
Germany
This is a list of the fastest-selling albums in Germany.| Rank | Year | Title | Artist | Sales | Reference |
| 1 | 2007 | 12 | Herbert Grönemeyer | More than 263,000 | |
| 2 | 2015 | 25 | Adele | 263,000 | |
| 3 | 2019 | Untitled | Rammstein | 260,000 |
Ireland
In Ireland 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.| Rank | Year | Title | Artist | Sales | Reference |
| 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 |
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.| Rank | Year | Title | Artist | Sales | Reference |
| 1 | 2015 | 25 | Adele | 18,766 | |
| 2 | 2009 | I Dreamed a Dream | Susan Boyle | 17,435 |
South Korea
This is a list of the fastest-selling albums in South Korea. by BTS is the current fastest-selling album in South Korea with over 3.3 million copies shipped to stores in its first 7 days of release.Hanteo
This is a list of the highest weekly album sales in South Korea, as recorded by the Hanteo Information System established in 1993.| Rank | Year | Title | Artist | Sales | Reference |
| 1 | 2020 | ' | BTS | 3,378,633 | |
| 2 | 2019 | ' | BTS | 2,130,480 | |
| 3 | 2020 | Heng:garae | Seventeen | 1,097,891 | |
| 4 | 2018 | ' | BTS | 1,003,500 | |
| 5 | 2018 | ' | BTS | 868,052 | |
| 6 | 2018 | Don't Mess Up My Tempo | EXO | 789,670 | |
| 7 | 2017 | BTS | 759,000 | ||
| 8 | 2019 | An Ode | Seventeen | 700,863 | |
| 9 | 2017 | The War | EXO | 602,094 | |
| 10 | 2016 | Ex'Act | EXO | 522,300 |
RIAK and Gaon
The Gaon Album Chart releases sales figures on a monthly basis.As such, the number of days from each album's release date until the end of the first tracking month is specified, to allow adjustments for the varying amounts of time from an album's release date to the end of the first month.
| Rank | Year | Title | Artist | Monthly sales | Days to end of month | Avg. sales per day | Reference |
| 1 | 2020 | ' | BTS | 4,114,843 | 9 | 457,204 | |
| 2 | 2019 | ' | BTS | 3,229,032 | 19 | 169,949 | |
| 3 | 2018 | ' | BTS | 1,933,450 | 8 | 241,681 | |
| 4 | 2000 | Let Me Love | Jo Sung-mo | 1,705,127 | 30 | 56,837 | |
| 5 | 2018 | ' | BTS | 1,664,041 | 14 | 118,860 | |
| 6 | 1999 | For Your Soul | Jo Sung-mo | 1,469,422 | 30 | 48,981 | |
| 7 | 2001 | Chapter 4 | g.o.d | 1,441,209 | 16 | 90,075 | |
| 8 | 2020 | Heng:garae | Seventeen | 1,235,853 | 9 | 137,317 | |
| 9 | 2017 | BTS | 1,203,533 | 13 | 92,579 | ||
| 10 | 2018 | Don't Mess Up My Tempo | EXO | 1,195,334 | 29 | 41,218 | |
| 11 | 2000 | Chapter 3 | g.o.d | 1,147,752 | 28 | 40,991 | |
| 12 | 1999 | I Yah! | H.O.T. | 1,102,153 | 17 | 64,832 | |
| 13 | 2001 | No More Love | Jo Sung-mo | 979,679 | 28 | 34,989 | |
| 14 | 2017 | The War | EXO | 959,417 | 14 | 68,530 | |
| 15 | 2000 | Outside Castle | H.O.T. | 840,370 | 30 | 28,012 |
United Kingdom
This is a list of the fastest-selling albums in the United Kingdom. 25 by Adele is the current fastest-selling album in the UK with over 803,000 copies sold in its first seven days.| Rank | Year | Title | Artist | Sales | Reference |
| 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 | 2007 | Spirit | Leona Lewis | 375,872 |
Notes:
† Be Here Now was unconventionally released on a Thursday and debuted at number one based on three-day sales of 695,761. Sales from its first full week of availability, which went from Thursday to Wednesday were 813,000.
- The second week's sales for 25 were 439,000.
- The fifth week's sales for 25 were 450,000.
United States
| Rank | Year | Title | Artist | Sales | Reference |
| 1 | 2015 | 25 | Adele | 3,378,000 | |
| 2 | 2000 | No Strings Attached | *NSYNC | 2,416,000 | |
| 3 | 2001 | Celebrity | *NSYNC | 1,880,000 | |
| 4 | 2000 | The Marshall Mathers LP | Eminem | 1,760,000 | |
| 5 | 2000 | Black & Blue | Backstreet Boys | 1,591,000 | |
| 6 | 2004 | Encore | Eminem | 1,500,000 | |
| 7 | 2002 | The Eminem Show | Eminem | 1,322,000 | |
| 8 | 2000 | Oops!... I Did It Again | Britney Spears | 1,319,000 | |
| 9 | 2014 | 1989 | Taylor Swift | 1,287,000 | |
| 10 | 2017 | Reputation | Taylor Swift | 1,216,000 | |
| 11 | 2012 | Red | Taylor Swift | 1,208,000 | |
| 12 | 2005 | The Massacre | 50 Cent | 1,141,000 | |
| 13 | 1999 | Millennium | Backstreet Boys | 1,134,000 | |
| 14 | 2011 | Born This Way | Lady Gaga | 1,108,000 | |
| 15 | 2004 | Confessions | Usher | 1,096,000 | |
| 16 | 1998 | Double Live | Garth Brooks | 1,095,000 | |
| 17 | 2000 | Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water | Limp Bizkit | 1,055,000 | |
| 18 | 2010 | Speak Now | Taylor Swift | 1,047,000 | |
| 19 | 2004 | Feels Like Home | Norah Jones | 1,022,000 | |
| 20 | 2008 | Tha Carter III | Lil Wayne | 1,006,000 |
Notes:
I The opening number denotes sales from the first four days of availability as The Massacre was unconventionally released in the middle of the week.
Additional records
Pre-SoundScan era
- 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.
- The Beatles' Rubber Soul sold 1,200,000 copies in "just the first nine days".
- The Beatles' self-titled double album sold "almost two million in one week".
- The Beatles' Let it Be allegedly had "a sale of 3,700,000 in just over 2 weeks".
- Carole King's Music reportedly sold "1,300,000 copies on the day of its release in the U.S."
- 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".
- The Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band soundtrack reportedly sold "4 million double sets" "within 2 weeks of release".
- Led Zeppelin's In Through the Out Door allegedly sold "1,700,000 within days of release".
- 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 least 2 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.
- 25 by Adele sold 1.11 million and 1.16 million copies in its second and fifth weeks of availability, respectively.
- Taylor Swift is the only artist to have four consecutive albums sell over 1 million copies in their first week.