The Top 40 biggest singles of 2012 on the Official Chart

2012 was the biggest year for sales of singles in British history.

In 2012 the Official Singles Chart commemorated its 60th anniversary, and sales of singles in the UK reached an all-time high.

The year also saw nine singles break the million sales barrier, with two doing so the same year they debuted. Those two tracks – Gotye and Kimbra’s Somebody That I Used To Know and Carly Rae Jepsen's Call Me Maybe – are at Number 1 and Number 2 on 2012's Official Top 40 biggest songs.

MORE: See the Official Top 40 Biggest Selling Albums Of 2012

US rockers Fun.’s We Are Young featuring Janelle Monae finished in third place with sales of 986,000 copies, and David Guetta and Sia’s Titanium was Number 4, with sales of over 922,000 – Sia also found herself at Number 10 on the year-end countdown, with her feature on Flo Rida's Wild Ones shifting 695,000. 2012 X Factor winner James Arthur’s Impossible, at 5, was a speedy seller – 897,000 copies sold in just three weeks.

UK artists made up 45% of the biggest selling singles of 2012, appearing as lead artist(s) on a total of 18 tracks in the Top 40. James Arthur is the highest charting British male artist , Jessie J the highest charting British female artist (Domino, 8) and Rudimental the highest charting British group (Feel The Love, 16).

Meanwhile the US accounts for 32.5% of lead artists in the Top 40 with 13 tracks, and Barbados and France account take 5% each, thanks to Rihanna and David Guetta.

Rihanna and Flo Rida appear on the most tracks in the Top 40 with three each, while David Guetta, Sia, Nicki Minaj, Will.I.Am and 2012 break out stars Emeli Sande and Rita Ora each appear on two tracks.

Total singles sales increased by 6% from 177.9 million in 2011 to 188.6 million in 2012, with the Top 20 biggest selling tracks of the year each shifting over 500,000 copies each.

The final sales week of 2012 – Sunday, December 22, to Saturday, December 28 – was the year’s record week for digital sales, with more than 5.6 million downloads sold.

The full Official Top 40 biggest selling singles of 2012 below. See the full Top 100 here.

1	SOMEBODY THAT I USED TO KNOW	GOTYE FT KIMBRA
2	CALL ME MAYBE	CARLY RAE JEPSEN
3	WE ARE YOUNG	FUN. FT JANELLE MONAE
4	TITANIUM	DAVID GUETTA FT SIA
5	IMPOSSIBLE	JAMES ARTHUR
6	GANGNAM STYLE	PSY
7	STARSHIPS	NICKI MINAJ
8	DOMINO	JESSIE J
9	PAYPHONE	MAROON 5 FT WIZ KHALIFA
10	WILD ONES	FLO RIDA FT SIA
11	DIAMONDS	RIHANNA
12	BENEATH YOUR BEAUTIFUL	LABRINTH FT EMELI SANDE
13	DON'T YOU WORRY CHILD	SWEDISH HOUSE MAFIA/MARTIN
14	NEXT TO ME	EMELI SANDE
15	WHISTLE	FLO RIDA
16	FEEL THE LOVE	RUDIMENTAL FT JOHN NEWMAN
17	MAMA DO THE HUMP	RIZZLE KICKS
18	TOO CLOSE	ALEX CLARE
19	SPECTRUM	FLORENCE & THE MACHINE
20	SKYFALL	ADELE
21	HALL OF FAME	THE SCRIPT FT WILL.I.AM
22	CANDY	ROBBIE WILLIAMS
23	DRIVE BY	TRAIN
24	HOT RIGHT NOW	DJ FRESH FT RITA ORA
25	PRINCESS OF CHINA	COLDPLAY & RIHANNA
26	WE ARE NEVER EVER GETTING BACK TOGETHER	TAYLOR SWIFT
27	BLACK HEART	STOOSHE
28	R.I.P.	RITA ORA FT TINIE TEMPAH
29	TROUBLEMAKER	OLLY MURS FT FLO RIDA
30	SEXY AND I KNOW IT	LMFAO
31	N****S IN PARIS	JAY-Z & KANYE WEST
32	WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN	RIHANNA
33	LOCKED OUT OF HEAVEN	BRUNO MARS
34	CALL MY NAME	CHERYL
35	TURN ME ON	DAVID GUETTA FT NICKI MINAJ
36	STRONGER (WHAT DOESN'T KILL YOU)	KELLY CLARKSON
37	DON'T WAKE ME UP	CHRIS BROWN
38	HEATWAVE	WILEY FT MS D
39	THIS IS LOVE	WILL.I.AM FT EVA SIMONS
40	WINGS	LITTLE MIX

The Official Top 40 biggest songs of 2017

Look back at the Official Top 40 biggest songs of 2016

Look back at the Official Top 40 biggest songs of 2015

Look back at the Official Top 40 biggest songs of 2014

Look back at the Official Top 40 biggest songs of 2013

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Paul John

15th July 2019

2012 brought us all together with the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games, great year for music too. The only fly in the ointment of 2012 was our weather, the summer was simply a farce with phenomenal rainfall.