The Official Top 40 Biggest Albums of 2022
Harry Styles' Harry's House was officially the biggest album of 2022 in the UK, the Official Charts Company can confirm today.
The One Direction star's third studio LP, it saw Harry achieve the rare Official Chart Double upon its release in May; with the record reaching Number 1 as lead single As It Was simultaneously topped the Official Singles Chart.
Harry's House boasts 2022's most impressive figures overall, having shifted a total of 460,000 UK chart units across the year. Of those, 160,000 were pure sales (150,000 physical, 10,000 downloads).
The record also spent the most weeks at Number 1 in 2022, managing six non-consecutive weeks atop the Official Albums Chart last year.
Explore Harry's Official Charts history in full so far here.
MORE: The Official Top 40 biggest songs of 2022
Ed Sheeran's = (Equals) comes in at Number 2 on the year-end list, shifting in excess of 433,000 UK chart units in 2022. Proving the singer-songwriter's enduring success, the record saw Ed make Official Chart history once again last year. In November, we announced that all four of Ed's studio albums had spent a total of 52 weeks or more inside the the Official Albums Chart Top 10.
Speaking exclusively to OfficialCharts.com at the time, Ed said, "I'm delighted to find out that four of my albums have spent a year or more in the UK Top 10. Thank you to my wonderful fans for making this possible, you’re the best. See you in 2023!"
MORE: The Official Top 40 biggest cassette albums of 2022
In third place on the list of 2022's biggest LPs is Taylor Swift's Midnights; also the year's fastest-selling album overall.
In less than three months, Midnights accumulated over 417,000 UK chart units in 2022; 217,000 of which were pure sales (206,000 physical copies, 11,000 downloads).
Midnights saw Taylor achieve her most explosive opening week ever upon its release in October, shifting a staggering 204,000 UK chart sales in its first seven days; more than double her previous best with 2014 album 1989 (90,300).
The record also clocked the second-longest reign atop the Official Albums Chart last year, managing a total of three non-consecutive weeks at Number 1. See Taylor Swift's Official Charts story so far here.
MORE: The Official Top 40 biggest songs of 2022
Big 2022 albums
Elsewhere in the list, Arctic Monkeys' The Car places 17th on the year-end list. Having shifted total UK chart units in excess of 159,000, the group's seventh studio album is one of three Arctics records in the Top 40 of 2022. 2013 release AM lands at Number 13, while 2006 debut Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not is at Number 37.
George Ezra's third Number 1 album Gold Rush Kid also enjoys a spot on 2022's Official biggest albums list (18), as does The Weeknd's chart-topping release Dawn FM (22). Having also reached the Official Albums Chart summit in 2022, Beyoncé's much-anticipated comeback record RENAISSANCE makes the list, too (35).
MORE: The Official Top 40 biggest vinyl albums and singles of 2022
The final 2022 release to land inside the year-end list comes courtesy of Kendrick Lamar. The Glastonbury Festival headliner's fifth studio album Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers proves itself a defining album of the year as it comes in at Number 36.
Official Top 40 biggest albums of 2022
| POS | TITLE | ARTIST | PEAK |
| 1 | HARRY'S HOUSE | HARRY STYLES | 1 |
| 2 | = | ED SHEERAN | 1 |
| 3 | MIDNIGHTS | TAYLOR SWIFT | 1 |
| 4 | THE HIGHLIGHTS | WEEKND | 2 |
| 5 | SOUR | OLIVIA RODRIGO | 1 |
| 6 | CURTAIN CALL - THE HITS | EMINEM | 1 |
| 7 | DIAMONDS | ELTON JOHN | 5 |
| 8 | 50 YEARS - DON'T STOP | FLEETWOOD MAC | 5 |
| 9 | BETWEEN US | LITTLE MIX | 3 |
| 10 | GOLD - GREATEST HITS | ABBA | 1 |
| 11 | GREATEST HITS | QUEEN | 1 |
| 12 | DIVIDE | ED SHEERAN | 1 |
| 13 | AM | ARCTIC MONKEYS | 1 |
| 14 | 30 | ADELE | 1 |
| 15 | TIME FLIES - 1994-2009 | OASIS | 1 |
| 16 | FINE LINE | HARRY STYLES | 2 |
| 17 | THE CAR | ARCTIC MONKEYS | 2 |
| 18 | GOLD RUSH KID | GEORGE EZRA | 1 |
| 19 | DIVINELY UNINSPIRED TO A HELLISH EXTENT | LEWIS CAPALDI | 1 |
| 20 | RUMOURS | FLEETWOOD MAC | 1 |
| 21 | SEVENTEEN GOING UNDER | SAM FENDER | 1 |
| 22 | DAWN FM | WEEKND | 1 |
| 23 | NUMBER ONES | MICHAEL JACKSON | 1 |
| 24 | PLANET HER | DOJA CAT | 3 |
| 25 | WE'RE ALL ALONE IN THIS TOGETHER | DAVE | 1 |
| 26 | LEGEND | BOB MARLEY & THE WAILERS | 1 |
| 27 | ONLY HONEST ON THE WEEKEND | BECKY HILL | 7 |
| 28 | ELV1S - 30 NUMBER 1 HITS | ELVIS PRESLEY | 1 |
| 29 | WHAT'S THE STORY MORNING GLORY | OASIS | 1 |
| 30 | FOLKLORE | TAYLOR SWIFT | 1 |
| 31 | 1 | BEATLES | 1 |
| 32 | FUTURE NOSTALGIA | DUA LIPA | 1 |
| 33 | 1989 | TAYLOR SWIFT | 1 |
| 34 | CERTIFIED LOVER BOY | DRAKE | 1 |
| 35 | RENAISSANCE | BEYONCE | 1 |
| 36 | MR. MORALE & THE BIG STEPPERS | KENDRICK LAMAR | 2 |
| 37 | WHATEVER PEOPLE SAY I AM THAT'S WHAT I'M | ARCTIC MONKEYS | 1 |
| 38 | HAPPIER THAN EVER | BILLIE EILISH | 1 |
| 39 | LEGACY | DAVID BOWIE | 5 |
| 40 | HOME ALONE 2 | D-BLOCK EUROPE | 6 |
©2023 Official Charts Company. All rights reserved.
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NK
Nathan Kelly
I think it's an indicator of why the red haired tw@t is the second biggest album of the year but there is no mention of how many actual sales it had, meaning that it's all the chavs in their caravan sites streaming for free through spotify. Pikey music for pikeys! Anyone want to meet me at the entrance to the caravan park for a bare knuckle fight? Hahaha
Rob Parkinson
Might look a bit silly in a day or 2 when they release the sales and the streaming charts of the year which they generally do and Ed Sheeran will most likely be top 3 in both sales and streaming too
NK
Nathan Kelly
Couldn't really give a toss Rob. No offence to you intended. Music is like life in general now. People just following the pack like sheep. The charts are obsolete if you want to discover anything that the herd isn't being brainwashed with. All aboard for your covid booster now Wooh wooh !!!!!!!
Rob Parkinson
Is a bit crazy when the actual choice to listen to any kind of new music has never been bigger. There are 100s of new tracks released each week, all of which can be listened to easily on many different platforms. Unfortunately record companies pay streaming services to push their favoured artists to tops of playlists and people rather than listening to their own choice of music will just listen to a premade playlist or listen to the radio, although radio is dwindling more so these days. Radio used to pick a tune, play it like crazy and it would soon become a hit but that happens far less now but streaming platforms and tik tok have huge influence on current charts. Only people can break the cycle by listening to their own choice of music rather than what is put to them. Well done to Raye for breaking thr cycle and becoming independent and having success, hopefully more artists will follow especially if artists such as Adele, Ed Sheeran etc did then it really would change music but then their American and worldwide appeal could be effected so there is no chance they will follow suit
NN
Nu No
So no TOP 40 Pure Sales Albums and no TOP 40 Streaming albums?
Why is that? We want that info too please!