US Sales
RIAA certifications
| Greatest Hits | 1,000,000 |
| Arrival | 500,000 |
| The Album * | 1,000,000 |
| Voulez Vous | 500,000 |
| Greatest Hits vol 2 | 500,000 |
| Super Trouper | 500,000 |
| Gold - Greatest Hits | 6,000,000 |
| The Best Of - 20th Century Masters | 500,000 |
| Total | 10,500,000 |
RIAA database here
* The Album had sold 1.3 million by 26/08/78 (source: Billboard Magazine). It was ABBA's biggest selling album in the US during their career.
Dancing Queen and Take a Chance on Me certified gold - which was for 1,000,000 sales in the 1970s. Platinum then was 2,000,000. In the late 1980s they were downgraded with gold being 500,000 and platinum 1,000,000. If those rules existed when ABBA were around Take a Chance on Me and Dancing Queen would be platinum and Waterloo, The Winner Takes it All, Fernando, Knowing me, Knowing You would almost certianly be certified gold.
These figures don't tell the whole story
1) A 1980 compilation the Magic of ABBA is said to have sold 2, 000,000. However, it was on the K-Tel label which is not a member of the RIAA so not eligible for gold or platinum awards.
2) Gold and Best of are under-certified. Add another 3 million. See below.
3) The cerifications are for minimum sales eg gold certification for sales of 500,000 to 999,999. Add extra 2 million or so.
4) Albums that sold less than 500,000 eg Waterloo, ABBA, The Visitors, The Singles, More Gold, The Definitive Collection etc. Add another 2 million.
Likely sales nearer to 20m than 10m!
SOUNDSCAN SALES, selected albums
| Gold - Greatest Hits | 5,969,000 | 01/2020 |
| Best Of ABBA | 1, 824,000 | 01/2020 |
| The Definitive Collection | 342,000 | 01/2009 |
| Number Ones | 230,000 | 12/2009 |
| More Gold | 114,000 | |
| Arrival | 54,000 | 01/2006 |
| Super Trouper | 52,000 | 12/2012 |
| The Album | 37,000 | 01/2006 |
| Voulez Vous | 36,000 | 12/2012 |
| The Visitors | 31,000 | 01/2006 |
| Oro: Grandes Exitos | 16,000 | 01/2006 |
By 2013, GOLD had sold over 5m and at that point was the 132nd best seller since SoundScan began recording sales.It was the 18th best selling Greatest Hits seller
Click on link Greatest Hits - GOLD on 5.2m sales
ABBA Gold sales: RIAA v Soundscan
RIAA had Gold selling 6 million way back in 2002 but Soundscan has them now on still under 6 million? Why the discrepency?
RIAA - sales are shipments and include sales to Music Clubs which were significant in the 1990s. It is sales to retailers not customers.
Soundscan - only counts sales from 'regular' outlets (no music club sales), no concert or theatre venues etc. In the 1990s Soundscan only captured about half of the US market, now it's almost all of sales. Sales to customers.
1993-2002: 6 million shipments. of which about 3 million were scanned sales to 'regular' outlets
2003 onwards - about 3 million sales. Soundcsan now captures all types of retailers and Music Club sector has evaporated.
ABBA GOLD sales = regular retailers + music club = around 8 - 9 million
NB the 6 million figure RIAA from 2002 would include some sales in shops that would later be sold to customers - so you can't just add the 2002 sales to Soundscan sales since then as you'd be 'double-counting' some sales.
ABBA GOLD has sold 884,000 through Music Club BMG. These sales are counted for RIAA certifications - but NOT for Soundscan sales.
| Dancing Queen | 1,444,000 |
| Take a Chance On Me | 234,000 |
| Mamma Mia | 193,000 |
Dancing Queen sales at August 2018.
Take a Chance On Me and Mamma Mia as of 23/01/2009.....or as Americans say 01/23/2009!
From Billboard - Jan 2009
week on askbillboard:
"After "Mamma Mia!," the movie musical based on Abba's music, became a box office smash last summer, "Gold" captured the No. 1 spot on the Top Pop Catalog chart for the first time - in its mere 443rd combined week on the Billboard 200 and Catalog charts. It returns to the Catalog summit for a tenth non-consecutive week this week.
Since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking album sales in 1991, here are Abba's best-selling sets:
"Gold - Greatest Hits," 5,000,000
"The Best of Abba: 20th Century Masters the Millenium Collection," 1,090,000
"The Definitive Collection," 342,000
As for individual songs, Abba's top-selling downloads to date are "Dancing Queen" (597,000), "Take a Chance on Me" (234,000) and, logically enough, "Mamma Mia" (193,000)."
ABBA SINGLES
| Position | Single | Peak |
| 1 | Dancing Queen | #1 |
| 2 | Take a Chance On Me | #5 |
| 3 | Fernando | #10 |
| 4 | Waterloo | #10 |
| 5 | The Winner Takes it All | #11 |
| 6 | Knowing Me Knowing You | #11 |
| 7 | SOS | #12 |
| 8 | The Name of The Game | #16 |
| 9 | Does Your Mother Know | #16 |
| 10 | I Do I Do I Do I Do I Do | #19 |
Based on Cashbox charts which were more sales based
In terms of sales the top two were million sellers. The next six likely to have sold over half a million or more.
The Winner Takes it All was a Top 10 on the Billboard chart but Fernando was not. Both were #1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Chart Lay All Your Love on Me was #1 on the Billboard Disco/Dance chart.
Dancing Queen was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100
Take a Chance on Me reached #3 on the Billboard chart
Waterloo reached #6 in August 1974
The Winner Takes it All peaked at #8 on Bilbord's Hot 100