Revealed: The Top 10 biggest selling albums of 2011 so far

The race to be among 2011’s biggest albums hits the home straight this week, with just four weeks to go until the end of the year and the last big releases entering the market.

To date, Adele’s ‘21’ is by far the biggest album of 2011 – and will not be caught, having already set an all-time record for the most albums sold in a single calendar year and having overtaken Amy Winehouse’s ‘Back To Black’ as the biggest album of the millennium so far at the weekend. To date, ‘21’ has sold 3.4m copies.
The second biggest seller of the year is Adele’s ‘19’, which has sold 1.14m copies, with Bruno Mars’ Doo Wops & Hooligans in third place on 980,000 sales.

Every December sees a massive surge in sales, as fans buy CDs as Christmas presents – and, increasingly over recent years, people download music on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. This will help the full year performance of new releases such as Michael Buble’s ‘Christmas’ release, as well as this week’s Official Number One album ‘In Case You Didn’t Know’ by Olly Murs, and this week’s new releases - including Rebecca Ferguson’s ‘Heaven’ and Amy Winehouse’s ‘Lioness: Hidden Treasures’.

The full Official list of the year’s Top 10 biggest sellers is below. What do you think the Top 5 will at the end of the year?

Official Albums Chart 2011 – year to date
01 21 – ADELE (3.4m)           
02 19  - ADELE (1.1m)           
03 DOO-WOPS & HOOLIGANS - BRUNO MARS (976,000)
04 LOUD – RIHANNA (812,000)
05 BORN THIS WAY - LADY GAGA (689,000)
06 WHO YOU ARE  - JESSIE J (660,000)
07 CHRISTMAS - MICHAEL BUBLE (496,000)
08 THE LADY KILLER  - CEE LO GREEN (485,000)
09 + - ED SHEERAN (477,000)            
10 MYLO XYLOTO – COLDPLAY (467,000)

© Official Charts Company 2011

Adele - Rolling In The Deep on MUZU.