Adele's 2015 huge album sales trump rivals

Adele's album 25 sold more copies around the world than its nearest chart rivals put together.

New figures show the British pop superstar's comeback record sold 17.4 million units in 2015, according to global music industry body the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI).

Despite 25 only going on sale in November (15), the figure is more than five times higher than Adele's nearest rival, Ed Sheeran, whose 2014 album X was in second place with 3.4 million units.

In fact, Adele's album outsold its rivals' yearly totals within days of release, as it sold 3.4 million copies in the U.S. in the first week it was available and racked up an additional 800,000 sales in the U.K. over the same time period.

Other stars left trailing in Adele's wake include Taylor Swift, as her 1989 album was the third biggest seller with 3.4 million units sold. Justin Bieber's album Purpose came out in the same month (Nov15) as 25, but could only shift 3.1 million copies in fourth place.

The London-born musician had less joy with single sales however as the only song from 25 to be released as a single last year (15), Hello, was only the eighth biggest seller with 12.3 million units sold.

Topping the sales list for individual tracks was Wiz Khalifa's collaboration with Charlie Puth, See You Again, which sold 20.9 million copies.

Adele's astonishing sales figures helped fuel a bumper year for the music industry, as according to IFPI bosses music sales revenue increased significantly for the first time in two decades.