Vinyl Just Had Its Biggest Sales Week Ever in the U.S. Since 1991

Vinyl sales have been on the rise in recent years and, in regards to weekly sales, the ever-lovable format just enjoyed its biggest week ever since 1991.

For the week ending December 23, Billboard has reported that over 2.11 million vinyl records were sold in America, largely propelled by the holiday season and countless options available from the overwhelming amount of new album that were released in 2021 as well as countless reissues of classics.

This marks the highest weekly vinyl sales figure since the Nielsen Soundscan era of tracking music sales began in 1991 and was an increase of 45 percent compared to the 1.46 million vinyl records sold the week prior.

Adele's new album, 30, accounted for a whopping 59,000 vinyl copies in just that one most recent week and it was the hit singer's fifth straight week atop Billboard's weekly Vinyl Albums chart. In total, 30, which was released on Nov. 19, has amassed 293,000 copies sold on vinyl in the United States and, as those numbers suggest, it was the top-selling vinyl record of 2021.

Here are some other fun 2021 vinyl stats from Billboard:

— The week ending December 23 was the sixth consecutive week of more than one million vinyl sales in the U.S. and the eighth time that figure was eclipsed in 2021. Since 1991, that feat had only occurred six times prior to this year.

— Vinyl sales accounted for half — 50 percent — of all album sales (digital and physical) in the U.S. and 57 percent of all physical sales for the week ending December 23.

It's another promising trend for the 90-year-old vinyl format, which outpaced CD sales for the first time ever last year.