List of best-selling singles in the United Kingdom

For the purposes of calculating sales, a single is currently defined by the Official Charts Company (OCC) as either a 'single bundle' having no more than four tracks and not lasting longer than 25 minutes or one digital audio track not longer than 15 minutes with a minimum sale price of 40 pence. The rules have changed many times as technology has developed, the most notable being the inclusion of digital downloads in 2004.

The best-selling single in the UK is "Candle in the Wind 1997" / "Something About the Way You Look Tonight", a double A-side released by Elton John following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. Since September 1997, the single has sold over 4.93 million copies in the UK.

Sales of singles have been monitored and charted in the UK since 1952, when Percy Dickins of New Musical Express (NME) telephoned around 20 record stores and aggregated their best-selling singles into a hit parade. Dickins published this Top 12 chart in NME on 14 November 1952. Since then, two singles have sold over 3 million copies – "Candle in the Wind 1997" / "Something About the Way You Look Tonight", and "Do They Know It's Christmas?", a charity single by Band Aid released in aid of victims of the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. A further five singles have sold more than 2 million copies.

The highest-selling by a solo female artist is "Believe" by Cher – released in October 1998, it has sold over 1.8 million copies in the UK.Boney M. have two entries in the top 10 and The Beatles have three in the top 40.

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