British artists lead the way in UK’s biggest selling albums of 2014

The Official Charts Company has listed 2014’s biggest-selling albums of the year, and the top ten is made up entirely of UK artists.

In a list consisting of nine male acts and one female artist, Ed Sheeran’s ‘x’ tops the ten highest-grossing albums. The record’s 1.7 million copies is the biggest yearly figure since Adele’s ’21’ in 2011. Sheeran is followed by Sam Smith’s ‘In The Lonely Hour’ and George Ezra’s ‘Wanted on Voyage’, with Paloma Faith’s ‘A Perfect Contradiction’ and Pink Floyd’s ‘The Endless River’ also featuring.

Non-UK artists were more prominent in the year’s biggest selling singles. Pharrell Williams’ ‘Happy’ topped the chart, with Clean Bandit’s ‘Rather Be’ and John Legend’s ‘All of Me’ also featuring.

Downloads accounted for 34% of UK album sales in 2014, although the yearly figure dropped slightly from 32.6 million to just under 30 million. CD album sales dropped from 60 million to 55 million, the biggest seller being Pink Floyd’s comeback.