Since July 1993, Billboard has published the best-selling Latin albums in the United States on the Top Latin Albums chart. Latin music is defined by Billboard and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) as a music release with 51 percent or more of its content in the Spanish language. On October 17, 2017, Billboard published a list of the 25 best-selling Latin albums in country since September 1992. , the best-selling Latin album in the United States is Dreaming of You by Selena, her fifth and final studio album, which was posthumously released in 1995. It has sold three million copies since its release. Dreaming of You became the first predominantly Spanish-language album to top the Billboard 200 and was the best-selling Latin album of 1995 and 1996. Selena's fourth studio album, Amor Prohibido, has sold more than 1,246,000 copies and is the fourth best-selling Latin album in the United States.

Sales data is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan from a sample that includes music stores, music departments at electronics and stores, Internet sales (both physical and digital) and verifiable sales from concert venues in the United States. Nielsen SoundScan has tracked sales of records in the country since March 1991. SoundScan does not include sales from small retailers without electronic cash registers and nontraditional outlets such as flea markets and drugstores. Prior to the inception of the Top Latin Albums chart, sales of Latin albums were reported by Latin music retailers and distributors and divided into three subcategories: Latin Pop, Tropical/Salsa, and Regional Mexican.

Sales certifications for US album sales are presented by the RIAA, who began awarding certifications in 1958. Initially, certifications were based on units shipped to retail outlets: sales of 500,000 are awarded gold, 1,000,000 for platinum and 2,000,000 or more for multi-platinum. On February 1, 2016, the RIAA updated its methodology for certifying albums by including audio streaming and track sales equivalent. Beginning in 2000, the RIAA launched the Gold and Platinum Awards (Spanish: Los Premios Oro y Platino) to acknowledge the Latin music market in the United States. , the current thresholds for the Latin certifications are 30,000 sales for gold (Disco de oro), 60,000 sales for platinum (Disco de platino), and 120,000 sales or more for multi-platinum (Disco de multi-platino). The previous thresholds for Latin certifications were 50,000 sales for gold, 100,000 sales for platinum, and 200,000 sales for multi-platinum.

The first Latin artist to have two Spanish-language albums certified platinum was Luis Miguel, with Romance and Segundo Romance. The latter album is also the 21st best-selling Latin record in the United States with sales of over 603,000 copies. Me Estoy Enamorando by Alejandro Fernández and Vuelve by Ricky Martin were the best-selling Latin albums of 1998 and 1999, respectively, and were both certified platinum by the RIAA. Shakira and Maná are the only acts with more than two albums on the list. Shakira's albums Pies Descalzos and Dónde Están los Ladrones? were both certified Platinum while her 2005 album, Fijación Oral, Vol. 1 was certified eleven times Disco de platino. Maná is the act with the most entries on the list, with four albums: ¿Dónde Jugarán los Niños?, Sueños Líquidos, MTV Unplugged and Amar es Combatir. , the most-certified album is Dreaming of You, which has been awarded Disco de platino 62 times, representing 3,720,000 units.

Best-selling albums Positions are as of October 2017; sales, where shown, are from the reference given, which may be at a different date, and cannot be used to infer changes in position.

+KeyGoldGold certification (500,000 units)PlatinumPlatinum certification (1,000,000 units)Platinum (Latin)Disco de Platino certification (100,000 units)Platinum (Latin)Disco de Platino certification (60,000 units) +Top 25 best-selling Latin albums in the USAlbumArtistRecord labelReleasedChart peakSales (as of date)Certification1Dreaming of YouSelenaEMI Latin13,000,000 (Dec 2020)2Buena Vista Social ClubBuena Vista Social ClubNonesuch/Atlantic11,925,000 (Oct 2017)3Gipsy KingsNonesuch/Atlantic21,563,000 (Oct 2017)4Amor ProhibidoSelenaEMI Latin11,246,000 (Oct 2017)5Historia de un Ídolo, Vol. 1Sony Discos11,242,000 (Oct 2017)6Mi TierraEpic11,232,000 (Oct 2017)7Barrio FinoDaddy YankeeVI Music11,083,000 (Oct 2017)8ShakiraEpic11,019,000 (Oct 2017)9ShakiraSony Discos1920,000 (Oct 2017)10VuelveSony Discos1888,000 (Oct 2017)11SuavementeSony Tropical1879,000 (Oct 2017)12ManáWEA Latina4856,000 (Oct 2017)13Barrio Fino en DirectoDaddy YankeeVI Music1809,000 (Oct 2017)14JuanesUniversal Music Latino1745,000 (Oct 2017)15Mi SangreJuanesUniversal Music Latino1739,000 (Oct 2017)16Sueños LíquidosManáWEA Latina1706,000 (Oct 2017) 17Amar es CombatirManáWarner Music Latina1702,000 (Oct 2017)18MTV UnpluggedManáWEA Latina1701,000 (Oct 2017)19RomancesWEA Latina1687,000 (Oct 2017)20Pa'l MundoWisin & YandelMachete Music1676,000 (Oct 2017)21Segundo RomanceWEA Latina1603,000 (Oct 2017)22Trozos de Mi AlmaFonovisa1598,000 (Oct 2017)23Pies DescalzosShakiraSony Discos5580,000 (Oct 2017)24Me Estoy EnamorandoSony Discos1576,000 (Oct 2017)25Sony Discos—568,000 (Oct 2017)

See also

List of best-selling albums in the United States List of best-selling Latin singles in the United States List of best-selling Latin albums

Notes

References