The Official Top 40 most-streamed Christmas songs

Are these the definitive Christmas classics?
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Christmas songs are like Brussels sprouts: they only appear in December and you either love or loathe them - but either way they are an essential component of the festive season.

Like distant relatives bounding into your family home on Christmas morning, every December sees a flurry of festive favourites flood back into the Official Chart - ever since the age of downloading (2005) and streaming (2014) made the classics (as well as the newer Christmas songs) more accessible.

As ever, the 2021 festive season is seeing plenty of Christmas classics back in this Official Singles Chart - but a smattering of newer tracks are emerging, too.

MORE: The Official 2021 Christmas Number 1 contenders

Looking at the UK’s most-streamed Christmas songs, based on Official Charts Company data, the Top 3 is the holy trinity of classics: Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You lands at the top of the tree with 248 million streams to date, followed by Wham’s Last Christmas, on 220m, and Fairytale Of New York by The Pogues ft. Kirsty MacColl with 170m plays. All three are usually the first to return to the Official Chart each December, often competing for spots in the Christmas Chart Top 10.

Completing the Top 5 are two more old favourites, Shakin’ Stevens’ Merry Christmas Everyone in fourth (136m), and Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas? at 5 (130m). The iconic charity single released in 1984 is one of the UK’s best-selling singles of all time, with over 3.8m pure sales, and continues to hold up well in the streaming era.

The highest-placed modern Christmas song - that is, festive songs released since 2010 - goes to Ariana Grande. The star's sparkly 2014 single Santa Tell Me is the UK’s eighth most-streamed Christmas track with 113m plays.

MORE: Every Official Christmas Number 1 ever

Other modern festive songs holding their own against the classics include Leona Lewis’ One More Sleep in 13th place (92m), Kelly Clarkson’s Underneath The Tree in 14th (85m), and Justin Bieber’s Mistletoe in 15th (82m).

Proving Christmas songs take a few years before they can truly enter the festive hall of fame, the newest song on the most-streamed chart is Sia's original Santa's Coming For Us, released in 2017, at Number 40.  

If Mariah is the Queen of Christmas, then surely Michael Buble is the King. His Christmas album is the UK’s biggest festive-themed record with over 3 million chart sales, and four of its tracks rank among the Top 40 most-streamed Christmas songs, led by It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas in sixth (128m).

The Official Top 40 most-streamed Christmas Songs

  TITLE ARTIST
1 ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU MARIAH CAREY
2 LAST CHRISTMAS WHAM!
3 FAIRYTALE OF NEW YORK POGUES FT KIRSTY MACCOLL
4 MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE SHAKIN' STEVENS
5 DO THEY KNOW IT'S CHRISTMAS BAND AID
6 IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE MICHAEL BUBLE
7 STEP INTO CHRISTMAS ELTON JOHN
8 SANTA TELL ME ARIANA GRANDE
9 I WISH IT COULD BE CHRISTMAS EVERYDAY WIZZARD
10 ROCKIN' AROUND THE CHRISTMAS TREE BRENDA LEE
11 DRIVING HOME FOR CHRISTMAS CHRIS REA
12 MERRY XMAS EVERYBODY SLADE
13 ONE MORE SLEEP LEONA LEWIS
14 UNDERNEATH THE TREE KELLY CLARKSON
15 MISTLETOE JUSTIN BIEBER
16 HAPPY XMAS (WAR IS OVER) JOHN & YOKO/PLASTIC ONO BAND
17 IT'S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR ANDY WILLIAMS
18 WONDERFUL CHRISTMASTIME PAUL MCCARTNEY
19 HOLLY JOLLY CHRISTMAS MICHAEL BUBLE
20 CHRISTMAS LIGHTS COLDPLAY
21 JINGLE BELL ROCK BOBBY HELMS
22 WHITE CHRISTMAS BING CROSBY
23 SLEIGH RIDE RONETTES
24 LET IT SNOW LET IT SNOW LET IT SNOW DEAN MARTIN
25 SANTA BABY KYLIE MINOGUE
26 MARY'S BOY CHILD/OH MY LORD BONEY M
27 CHRISTMAS (BABY PLEASE COME HOME) DARLENE LOVE
28 LONELY THIS CHRISTMAS MUD
29 2000 MILES PRETENDERS
30 STOP THE CAVALRY JONA LEWIE
31 SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN MICHAEL JACKSON & JACKSON FIVE
32 HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS SAM SMITH
33 LET IT SNOW LET IT SNOW LET IT SNOW FRANK SINATRA
34 BLUE CHRISTMAS ELVIS PRESLEY
35 FELIZ NAVIDAD JOSE FELICIANO
36 THE CHRISTMAS SONG NAT KING COLE
37 BABY IT'S COLD OUTSIDE IDINA MENZEL FT MICHAEL BUBLE
38 CHRISTMAS TIME (DON'T LET THE BELLS END) DARKNESS
39 SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN MICHAEL BUBLE
40 SANTA'S COMING FOR US SIA

©2021 Official Charts Company. All rights reserved.

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Blueberry Muffin

1

Fairytale Of New York #3.
I make a early New Year's resolution to learn to appreciate this song. I never have before
But I must be wrong.

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keightley1980

0

not even a Cliff song in the 40

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Blank

0

Aka the all-times chart in 20 years time!

JA

John Ashton

0

What no David Bowie? very disappointing!!!

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Bengy

1

Wot? no Cliff Richard record?

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🧡 oliviasnoodles 🍜

2

the fact that 2000 miles and the christmas song (two 10/10 classics) are at numbers 30 and 38 respectively already make them underrated... lol.