The UK Albums Chart is a music chart compiled by the Official Charts Company that calculates the best-selling albums of the week in the United Kingdom. Since 2005, it has been based on the sales of both physical and digital albums, on the condition that the album was available in both formats. In 2007, the rules were changed so that legal downloads of all albums, irrespective of whether a physical copy was available, were eligible to chart.

Between 2000 and 2009, more than 100 albums sold more than 1 million copies in the United Kingdom. At the end of the decade, a retrospective chart was compiled by the Official Charts Company to determine the best-selling artist album of this ten-year period. The title was won by James Blunt, with his debut album Back to Bedlam, released in 2004. The album sold 3.19 million copies, finishing ahead of Dido's album No Angel, which sold 3.05 million copies. Dido featured twice in the top 10 best-sellers, with Life for Rent being the seventh best-seller of the decade. Amy Winehouse (3), Leona Lewis (4) and David Gray (5) were the other solo-artists to feature. The Beatles' compilation album 1 was the highest entry by a group in the chart at number 6; Coldplay (8), Keane (9) and Scissor Sisters (10) made up the rest of the top ten. Robbie Williams had the most albums on the list with five entries.

BBC Radio 1 announced the chart in a programme, presented by DJ Nihal, on 28 December 2009. The list of the best-selling albums of the decade in the United Kingdom was also announced in a series of three shows between 29 and 31 December 2009. As it was broadcast during the last week of December, the chart did not include sales from the final week of the year. An updated chart, including sales up to 31 December 2009 and containing some minor changes from the chart broadcast on Radio 1, was published in the UK trade magazine Music Week in the issue dated 30 January 2010.

The list of the best-selling compilation albums of the decade in the UK Compilation Chart was dominated by the Now That's What I Call Music! series of albums. The best-selling compilation album of the 2000s was Now 47 with 1,371,324 copies sold, ahead of Now 50 with 1,367,380 copies. The best-selling soundtrack album of the decade was Mamma Mia! The Movie Soundtrack, with a total of 1,320,357 to the end of 2009.

Best-selling albums

Title Artist Peakposition Year ofrelease Sales 1 Back to Bedlam 1 2004 3,191,393 2 No Angel Dido 1 2000 3,052,901 3 Back to Black 1 2006 4 Spirit 1 2007 5 White Ladder 1 1998 6 1 1 2000 2,867,152 7 Life for Rent Dido 1 2003 8 A Rush of Blood to the Head Coldplay 1 2002 9 Hopes and Fears Keane 1 2004 10 Scissor Sisters Scissor Sisters 1 2004 2,707,567 11 Beautiful World Take That 1 2006 12 X&Y Coldplay 1 2005 13 Parachutes Coldplay 1 2000 14 Come Away with Me 1 2002 15 Eyes Open Snow Patrol 1 2006 16 The Marshall Mathers LP Eminem 1 2000 17 Swing When You're Winning 1 2001 18 Only by the Night Kings of Leon 1 2008 2,260,195 19 Greatest Hits 1 2004 20 Sing When You're Winning 1 2000 21 Rockferry Duffy 1 2008 22 Escapology 1 2002 23 Employment Kaiser Chiefs 2 2005 24 The Circus Take That 1 2008 25 Gold: Greatest Hits ABBA 1 1992 1,995,170 26 Hot Fuss 1 2004 27 American Idiot Green Day 1 2004 28 By the Way Red Hot Chili Peppers 1 2002 29 Stripped 2 2002 30 Songs About Jane Maroon 5 1 2002 31 Justified 1 2002 32 Never Forget – The Ultimate Collection Take That 2 2005 33 The Greatest Hits Texas 1 2000 34 Call Off the Search 1 2003 35 Born to Do It 1 2000 36 Play Moby 1 1999 37 Number Ones 1 2003 38 Missundaztood Pink 3 2002 39 Just Enough Education to Perform Stereophonics 1 2001 40 Let Go 1 2002 41 Final Straw Snow Patrol 3 2003 42 Unbreakable – The Greatest Hits Vol. 1 Westlife 1 2002 1,730,028 43 Friday's Child 1 2003 44 Songbird 1 1998 45 Demon Days Gorillaz 1 2005 46 Fever 1 2001 47 Coast to Coast Westlife 1 2000 48 The Platinum Collection (Greatest Hits I, II, III) Queen 2 2000 49 Whitney: The Greatest Hits 1 2000 50 In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988–2003 R.E.M. 1 2003 51 Eye to the Telescope 3 2004 52 I Dreamed a Dream 1 2009 1,632,732 53 Gotta Get Thru This 2 2002 54 Music Madonna 1 2000 55 Intensive Care 1 2005 56 Elephunk 3 2003 57 Good Girl Gone Bad Rihanna 1 2007 58 Life in Cartoon Motion Mika 1 2007 59 ELV1S 1 2002 60 Breakaway 3 2005 61 The Eminem Show Eminem 1 2002 62 Il Divo Il Divo 1 2004 63 Escape 1 2001 64 Undiscovered 1 2006 65 Razorlight Razorlight 1 2006 66 In Between Dreams 1 2005 67 Greatest Hits Guns N' Roses 1 2004 68 Greatest Hits 1970–2002 3 2002 69 Ta-Dah Scissor Sisters 1 2006 70 Sam's Town 1 2006 71 Confessions Usher 1 2004 72 The Story So Far: The Very Best of Rod Stewart 7 2001 73 The Fame Lady Gaga 1 2009 1,388,847 74 Inside In/Inside Out 2 2006 75 Permission to Land 1 2003 76 One Love Blue 1 2002 77 Dreams Can Come True, Greatest Hits Vol. 1 Gabrielle 2 2001 78 Hybrid Theory Linkin Park 4 2000 79 Stop the Clocks Oasis 2 2006 80 My Way: The Best of Frank Sinatra 7 1997 81 Ronan 1 2000 82 Confessions on a Dance Floor Madonna 1 2005 83 Face to Face Westlife 1 2005 84 Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not Arctic Monkeys 1 2006 85 Forever Faithless – The Greatest Hits Faithless 1 2005 86 Piece by Piece 1 2005 87 Fallen Evanescence 1 2003 88 I'm Not Dead Pink 3 2006 89 Curtain Call: The Hits Eminem 1 2005 90 Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends Coldplay 1 2008 91 All Rise Blue 1 2001 92 The Man Who Travis 1 1999 93 10 Years of Hits 1 2004 94 Franz Ferdinand Franz Ferdinand 3 2004 95 PCD 7 2005 96 Rise Gabrielle 1 1999 97 How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb U2 1 2004 98 The Invisible Band Travis 1 2001 99 Anastacia Anastacia 1 2004 100 A New Day at Midnight 1 2002

Note:

See also List of best-selling singles of the 2000s (decade) in the United Kingdom List of best-selling albums of the 21st century in the United Kingdom

References