ABBA Worldwide Estimated Sales
Estimated Album Sales.
My estimates based on
1. Official sales figures eg Official Charts Company (UK), Soundscan/Luminate (USA)and Oricon (Japan)/certifications eg BPI (UK), RIAA (Japan) and in some cases credible reports. Estimates are higher to account for back catalogue sales and un or under certified albums
2. Market share of individual countries. Certification levels used to determine size. NB, ABBA's sales are European focussed and ABBA do disproportionately better in the UK and Germany than the largest music market, the USA.
3. Local factors. Some albums may sell a lot in small markets (eg in Sweden, ABBA's home country, Australia for a period in mid 1970s and Latin America for the late 1970s.
ABBA's Top 40 Albums - Sales estimates
1. Gold Greatest Hits, 32,000,000
2, Arrival, 11,000,000
3. Super Trouper, 8,000,000
4. The Album, 7,500,000
5. Greatest Hits, 7,500,000
6. Voulez Vous, 7,000,000
7. Greatest Hits Volume 2, 6,500,000
8. The Visitors, 4,500,000
9. ABBA, 3,000,000
10. Best of ABBA, 3,000,000
11. More Gold, 2.500.000
12. The Definitive Collection, 2,500,000
13. Waterloo, 2,500,000
14. Voyage, 2,500,000
15, The Singles, 2.500,000
16. Best Of Millenium Collection, 2,000,000
17 18 Hits, 2,000,000
18.Magic of ABBA, 2,000,000
19. Very Best of: Greatest Hits, 1,500,000
20. Gracias Por La Musica/Oro, 1,000,000
21. The Music Still Goes On, 1,000,000
22. The Name of the Game, 1,000,000
23. Number Ones, 1,000,000
24. SOS: Best of ABBA, 800,000
25. ABBA 20/24, 800,000
26. A Wie ABBA/A Van ABBA, 700,000
27. Ring Ring, 500,000
28. Icon, 500,000
29. 25 Jar Naar Waterloo, 350,000
30. The Albums (Box Set), 300,000
31. The Complete Singles Collection, 300,000
32. The ABBA Story, 300,000
33. 16 Hits, 250,000
34. Hits 2, 250,000
35 Hits, 200,000
36 Hits 3, 200,000
37 Live at Wembley, 200,000
38 Toda, 200,000
39, Complete/Forever Gold (2CD), 200,000
40 Gold Deluxe (3 CD), 200,000
Total: 120, 250,000
➡️ First three albums had localised sales in just a few countries.
➡️ Next four had global sales. Arrival and Super Trouper respectively, their top two sellers in Europe. Arrival their top seller in Australia. Voulez Vous relatively not so strong in USA or UK but did very well in Japan and South America. The Album was their biggest seller in America.
➡️ Last two, The Visitors and Voyage had sales overwhelmingly in Western Europe and the US. Voyage in particular had to rely on loyal German and British fans for almost half its sales. Numbers were down considerably everywhere else for Voyage. Sales overall for albums had declined sharply by the time Voyage was released in 2021. For the first time, Sweden finished behind France in studio album sales. And first time since the Waterloo album an ABBA Studio Album sold more in Gernany than the UK (but German population much bigger than 1970s/80s)
Major Compilations - estimated sales in key markets
Major International compilations - 57,00,000 worldwide. Plus ABBA Live, The Essential Collection, deluxe edition of Gold and Forever Gold brings us closer to 60,000,000.
➡️ Greatest Hits wasn't released everywhere - some countries had own version, notably the Best Of compilation. Greatest Hits Volume Two had a universal release.
➡️ Gold Greatest Hits - you won't be surprised by phenomenal sales in the UK or very impressive sales in Germany. It was way more successful than other ABBA albums in most countries, notably France, Canada and especially the US.
➡️ More Gold and The Definitive Collection each sold less than a tenth of Gold.
Plus numerous local and budget compilations, 25-35 million including
Best of: Millennium Collection 2,000,000 (USA/Canada)
Magic of ABBA 2,000,000 (USA). Not too sure on this one.
Gracias Por La Musica/Oro - 1,000,000 (Spain/Latin America)
The Music Still Goes On - 1,000,000 (worldwide, budget)
The Name of the Game - 1,000,000 (worldwide, budget)
Very Best of: Greatest Hits - 1,500,00 (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Netherlands, Asia). Golden Double Album in France
SOS: Best of -800,000 (Japan)
Greatest Hits 20/24 - 800,000 (Japan)
A Van ABBA/A Wie ABBA - 700,000 (Netherlands/Germany)
Icon - 500,000 (USA/Canada)
The ABBA Story - 300,000 (Europe)
The Albums (Box set) 300,000 (Worldwide)
25 Jaar Na Waterloo - 350,000 (Netherlands)
Complete Singles Collection - 300,000 (Germany)
16 Hits - 250,000 (Germany)
Hits 2 - 250,000 (UK)
Hits - 200,000 (UK)
Hits 3 - 200,000 (UK)
Toda - 200,000 (Spain)
Live at Wembley 200,000 (Worldwide)
25 Jaar Na Waterloo 2 - 150,000 (Netherlands)
Thank Your For the Music - 150,000 (UK)
Absolute ABBA - 100,000 (UK)
Complete Gold - 70,000 (Australia)