List of best-selling albums worldwide facts for kids

This is a list of the world's best-selling albums. The criteria are that the figure must have been published by a reliable source and the album must have sold at least 20 million copies worldwide. Most albums have different estimates of sales. In this list, the highest sales reported for an album is added to the list. Groupings are based on different sales benchmarks. The highest benchmark is for claims of at least 100 million copies, and the lowest are for claims of 20–29 million copies. Albums are listed in order of number of copies sold and by the artist's first name. This list contains all types of albums, including studio, greatest hits, compilation, various artists, soundtrack and remix.

A number of issues make exact figures difficult to calculate, as historical data before the 1980s and from developing countries is incomplete. Also, fans, record companies and the media are prone to making the sales figures higher than they actually are to boost the image of the act. The list also does not take into account the resale of used albums or as the emergence of illegal downloading of digital music.

Michael Jackson's Thriller is the best selling album of all time. The album is cited as selling as many as 110 million copies worldwide.

Legend

Over 50 million copies

40–49 million copies

30–39 million copies

20–29 million copies

Related pages

• RIAA certification

Images for kids

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  Platinum record for Michael Jackson's Thriller (1982), the best-selling album of all time

See also

In Spanish: Anexo:Álbumes musicales más vendidos para niños