A girl group is a popular music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. Girl groups have been popular at least since the heyday of the Boswell Sisters beginning in the 1930s, but the term "girl group" also denotes the wave of American female pop singing groups who flourished in the late 1950s and early 1960s between the decline of early rock and roll and the British Invasion, many of whom were influenced by doo-wop style. This article covers only girl groups from that era and later.
Sales figures records in most countries are not available before the 1990s, so it is difficult to accurately determine best-selling records, either by country or worldwide. Certification levels have been used for most countries, but certification was not common until the late 1970s in the US and UK, and later in other countries. In addition, in many countries certification is for shipments of a record to retailers, rather than actual sales. Complicating matters further are the changes from 2010 onwards as certifications have become based on a combined figure of sales and streaming, instead of sales alone.
As a result, these tables should not be considered definitive lists of the best-selling records by girl groups in each country.
The top 10 best-selling girl groups worldwide of all time are:
It is extremely difficult to obtain worldwide sales figures for singles due to the lack of verifiable sales reporting in many countries. The best-selling single of all time by a female group is thought to be the 1996 hit "Wannabe" by British group Spice Girls, with estimated sales of 8 million copies worldwide.
Other best-selling singles worldwide by girl groups include "The Ketchup Song (Aserejé)" by Las Ketchup (7 million), and "Don't Cha" by the Pussycat Dolls (6 million).
Singles certified platinum or more by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Only includes certifications since 1989, when ARIA took over compiling the Australian charts. From November 2014 onwards paid-for audio streams were included in the Australian singles chart and counted towards sales and certifications.