The following is an independently-determined list of best-selling albums by country. Depends on the measurement, record sales of albums are taken by estimations or certifications.
Note that some of the data are incomplete due to a lack of available published data from a number of territories, unlike the United Kingdom and the United States with recognized national measurement firms and certifying bodies such as Official Charts Company/British Phonographic Industry (BPI) and Nielsen SoundScan/Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) respectively. Therefore, it is not an exhaustive list, so no rankings are given in certain cases.
The following is a list of best-selling albums in Hong Kong. This list may include various types of albums, such as studio albums, live albums, extended plays, greatest hits, compilations, various artists, soundtracks, and remixes. To appear on the list, the sales figure must be published by a reliable source, and the album must have sold at least 100,000 units.
According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (Hong Kong Group), The Private Eyes (Ã¥ÂÂæ¤堫両) by Sam Hui is the best-selling album of all time in Hong Kong, with over 500,000 copies sold. Paula Tsui is recognized by IFPI (Hong Kong Group) as the best-selling female recording artist of all time in Hong Kong, with at least three of her albums each exceeding 350,000 copies in sales. Other prominent Cantopop artists such as Alan Tam, Leslie Cheung, Anita Mui, and Jacky Cheung have each achieved average album sales of over 200,000 copies. Sammi Cheng has been awarded the IFPI Hong Kong Top Sales Music Award for Best Selling Female Artist nine times, and has received the award for Best Selling Album on four occasions. Mainland Chinese singer Faye Wong, who previously developed her career in Hong Kong, was listed by Guinness World Records as the "Best-selling artist of Canto-pop music (female)." However, this designation has been considered misleading, as her reported sales figures have not been certified by IFPI (Hong Kong Group). According to Guinness, the figures are based on estimations rather than certifications. Since Cantopop originated in Hong Kong, the Guinness listing may lead to the misconception that Wong is the Best-selling female artist in the Hong Kong region. Industry-standard sales certifications should be issued by recognized organizations such as IFPI, rather than Guinness World Records. Notably, Faye Wong has never received any IFPI Hong Kong awards for Best Selling Female Artist or Best Selling Album. According to IFPI (Hong Kong Group) records, only two of her albums have achieved platinum status in Hong Kong, which does not qualify as high-volume sales under IFPI's historical benchmarks.
Historically, the Hong Kong market has been dominated by local artists and music. However, the Cantonese music market is relatively small, and no Cantonese-language album has ever achieved sales of one million units within Hong Kong. Even when Cantonese songs gain overseas exposure, such popularity does not translate into significant album sales. As a result, no Cantonese album has surpassed one million copies sold across Asia. Any artist claiming that their Cantonese-language album has exceeded one million units sold in Asia is, therefore, making a demonstrably misleading statement.
Album sales in Hong Kong peaked between 1980 and 1992. However, beginning in 1993, the widespread emergence of pirated copies led to a year-on-year decline in sales. The situation worsened in 1999 with the rise of internet downloads, which further impacted the market.
Note: Some of the claimed sales figures taken from labels may seem inflated.Only certified sales within the Hong Kong region and officially claimed figures made within three years of an album's release are accepted. Sales figures from unreliable sources â including exaggerated claims, unverifiable cumulative totals, speculative estimates published by magazines, and fan-generated data â are excluded.
Sales figure derived from various sources.
Up to 2006, George Telek's albums distributed by CHM sold about 15,000 copies each. The band Painim Wok, which had Telek as a member, became one of the best-selling bands in Papua New Guinea (or the best-selling band) with over 100,000 copies of their albums in 5 years alone up to 1993.