ABBA Worldwide Estimated Sales
| SONG | Physical | Download |
| Ring Ring | 400,000 | 150,000 |
| Waterloo | 2,900,000 | 650,000 |
| Honey Honey | 1,150,000, | 400,000 |
| I Do I Do I Do I Do I Do | 1,650,000 | 300,000 |
| SOS | 2,500,000 | 450,000 |
| Mamma Mia | 1,900,000 | 1,600,000 |
| Fernando | 4,000,000 | 400,000 |
| Dancing Queen | 5,350,000 | 3,800,000 |
| Money Money Money | 2,800,000 | 400,000 |
| Knowing Me Knowing You | 2,900,000 | 400,000 |
| The Name of the Game | 2,600,000 | 250,000 |
| Take a Chance on Me | 3,300,000 | 1,200,000 |
| Thank You for the Music | 100,000 | 500,000 |
| Eagle | 600,000 | 200,000 |
| Summer Night City | 1,000,000 | 150,000 |
| Chiquitita - English | 2,300,000 | 500,000* |
| Chiquitita - Spanish | 1,200,000 | *both versions |
| Does Your Mother Know | 1,600,000 | 500,000 |
| Voulez Vous (inc UK) | 800,000 | 500,000 |
| Angel Eyes (UK with VV) | 500,000 | 200,000 |
| Gimme Gimme Gimme | 2,400,000 | 600,000 |
| I Have a Dream | 1,300,000 | 350,000 |
| The Winner Takes it All | 2,400,000 | 900,000 |
| Super Trouper | 2,900,000 | 350,000 |
| Lay All Your Love on Me | 500,000 | 350,000 |
| On and On and On | 300,000 | 50,000 |
| One of Us | 1,400,000 | 300,000 |
| Head Over Heels | 500,000 | 75,000 |
| When All Is Said and Done | 500,000 | 100,000 |
| The Day Before You Came | 600,000 | 250,000 |
| Under Attack | 300,000 | 50,000 |
| Others | 2,000,000 | |
| Approximate Total | 53,000,000 | 18,000,000 |
➡️Dancing Queen was ABBA's biggest physical seller - in the US, UK and Japan. In Germany and Australia it was Fernando..
➡️ Some big physical sellers not so popular with downloads eg The Name of the Gane, Fernando and Money, Money, Money
➡️ Perhaps thanks to the first Mamna Mia film some songs that weren't ABBA's biggest originally became so with downloads eg Mamma Mia, Gimme Gimme Gimme, Does Your Mother Know, The Winner Takes it All.
Estimated Album Sales.
My estimates based on
1. Official sales figures/certifications 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.
3. Local factors. Some albums may sell a lot in small markets and vice versa.
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
| Album | Global Estimates | #1 country | #2 country | #3 country | #4 country | #5 country |
| Ring Ring | 500,000 | Sweden 150,000 | Australia 150,000 | UK 30,000 | Norway 10,000 | Denmark 10,000 |
| Waterloo | 2,500,000 | Germany 550,000 | Sweden 400,000 | US 200,000 | Australia 120,000 | UK 120,000 |
| ABBA | 3,000,000 | Australia 600,000 | Sweden 500,000 | UK 200,000 | US 200,000 | Norway 130,000 |
| Arrival | 11,000,000 | UK 1,700,000 | Germany 1,300,000 | USA 1,200,000 | Australia 1,000,000 | Sweden 750,000 |
| The Album | 7,500,000 | USA 1,500,000 | UK 1,200,000 | Sweden 800,000 | Germany 600,000 | Japan 300,000 |
| Voulez Vous | 7,000,000 | USA 900,000 | UK 900,000 | Germany 750,000 | Japan 700,000 | Sweden 400,000 |
| Super Trouper | 8,000,000 | UK 1,250,000 | Germany 1,200,000 | USA 1,000,000 | Sweden 400,000 | France 250,000 |
| The Visitors | 4,500,000 | UK 850,000 | Germany 750,000 | USA 500,000 | Sweden 350,000 | France 150,000 |
| Voyage | 2,500,000 | Germany 590,000 | UK 475 000 | USA 220,000 | France 125,000 | Netherlands 80,000 |
Studio album sales - 46,500,000
➡️ 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 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 did not finish in the Top 5 countries for Studio Album sales.
| Greatest Hits | 7,500,000 | UK 2,600,000 | USA 1,300,000 | Canada 550,000 | Germany 300,000 |
| Greatest Hits Volume 2 | 6 ,500,000 | UK 1,200,000 | Japan 1,000,000 | US 600,000 | Germany 600,000 |
| The Singles | 2,500,000 | UK 600,000 | US 500,000 | Germany 300,000 | Portugal 35,000 |
| Gold - Greatest Hits | 32,000,000 | US 11,000,000 | UK 6,200,000 | Germany 3,000,000 | France 2,000,000 |
| More Gold | 2,500,000 | UK 420,000 | Germany 250,000 | US 150,000 | France 110,000 |
| The Definitive Collection | 2,500,000 | US 350,000 | Germany 300,000 | UK 240,000 | Australia 140,000 |
| 18 Hits | 2,000,000 | UK 530,000 | Australia 300,000 | Germany 300,000 | Brazil 135,000 |
| Number Ones | 1,000,000 | US 240,000 | UK 175,000 | Germany 100,000 | Russia 20,000 |
| The Albums (Box Set) | 300,000 | UK 80,000 | Sweden 50,000 | Denmark 15,000 | |
| Live at Wembley | 200,000 | Sweden 40,000 | Germany 30,000 | UK 10,000 |
Major International compilations - 57,00,000 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. 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
The Best of - 3,000,000 (Australia, NZ, Germany, Netherlands)
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)
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)
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)