ABBA Worldwide Estimated Sales 

 

 Top  ABBA Singles
SONGPhysicalDownload
Ring Ring400,000   150,000
Waterloo2,900,000   650,000
Honey Honey1,150,000,   400,000
I Do I Do I Do I Do I Do1,650,000  300,000
SOS2,500,000  450,000
Mamma Mia1,900,0001,600,000
Fernando4,000,000  400,000
Dancing Queen5,350,0003,800,000
Money Money Money2,800,000  400,000
Knowing Me Knowing You2,900,000  400,000
The Name of the Game2,600,000   250,000
Take a Chance on Me3,300,0001,200,000
Thank You for the Music   100,000  500,000
Eagle   600,000  200,000
Summer Night City1,000,000  150,000
Chiquitita - English2,300,000  500,000*
Chiquitita - Spanish1,200,000*both versions
Does Your Mother Know1,600,000  500,000
Voulez Vous (inc UK)   800,000   500,000
Angel Eyes (UK with VV)   500,000  200,000
Gimme Gimme Gimme2,400,000  600,000
I Have a Dream1,300,000  350,000
The Winner Takes it All2,400,000  900,000
Super Trouper2,900,000  350,000
Lay All Your Love on Me   500,000  350,000
On and On and On    300,000    50,000
One of Us1,400,000  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 Total53,000,00018,000,000
Estimated singles sales from this site here 


➡️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

 
ABBA Studio Albums - 
Global sales  and Top 5 countries estimates
AlbumGlobal Estimates#1 country#2 country#3 country#4 country#5 country
Ring Ring   500,000Sweden
150,000
Australia
150,000
UK
30,000
Norway
10,000
Denmark
10,000
Waterloo2,500,000Germany
550,000
Sweden
400,000

US
200,000
Australia
120,000
UK
120,000
ABBA3,000,000Australia
600,000
Sweden
500,000
UK
200,000
US
200,000
Norway
130,000
Arrival11,000,000UK
1,700,000
Germany
1,300,000
USA
1,200,000

Australia
1,000,000
Sweden
750,000
The Album7,500,000USA
1,500,000
UK
1,200,000
Sweden
800,000
Germany
600,000
Japan
300,000
Voulez Vous7,000,000USA
900,000
UK
900,000
Germany
750,000
Japan
700,000
Sweden
400,000
Super Trouper8,000,000UK
1,250,000
Germany
1,200,000
USA
1,000,000
Sweden
400,000
France
250,000
The Visitors4,500,000UK
850,000
Germany
750,000
USA
500,000
Sweden
350,000
France
150,000
Voyage2,500,000Germany
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.

 

 International Compilation Albums
Greatest Hits7,500,000UK
2,600,000
USA
1,300,000
Canada
550,000
Germany
300,000
Greatest Hits Volume 26 ,500,000UK
1,200,000
Japan
1,000,000
US
600,000
Germany
600,000
The Singles2,500,000UK
600,000
US
500,000
Germany
300,000
Portugal
35,000
Gold - Greatest Hits 32,000,000US
11,000,000
UK
6,200,000
Germany
3,000,000
France
2,000,000
More Gold2,500,000UK
420,000
Germany
250,000
US
150,000
France
110,000
The Definitive Collection2,500,000US
350,000
Germany
300,000
UK
240,000
Australia
140,000
18 Hits2,000,000UK
530,000
Australia
300,000
Germany
300,000
Brazil
135,000
Number Ones1,000,000US
240,000
UK
175,000
Germany
100,000
Russia
20,000
The Albums (Box Set)   300,000UK
80,000
Sweden
50,000
Denmark
15,000

Live at Wembley   200,000Sweden
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)