List of best-selling singles

The singles listed here were cited by reliable sources from various media, such as digital journalism, newspapers, magazines, and books.

According to Guinness World Records, Irving Berlin's "White Christmas" (1942) as performed by Bing Crosby is the best-selling single worldwide, with estimated sales of over 50 million copies.

[1] The song, recognized as "the best-selling single of all time", was released before the pop/rock singles-chart era and "was listed as the world's best-selling single in the first-ever Guinness Book of Records (published in 1955) and—remarkably—still retains the title more than 50 years later".

Guinness World Records also states that double A-side charity single "Candle in the Wind 1997"/"Something About the Way You Look Tonight" (1997) by Elton John (rewritten as a tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales, rather than Marilyn Monroe in the original 1973 version), is "the biggest-selling single since UK and US singles charts began in the 1950s, having accumulated worldwide sales of 33 million copies".

A list of the best selling singles released before 2000, based on worldwide certified unit sales (including both digital sales and equivalent track streams) Beginning in 2020, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry began reporting the best-selling singles of each year in terms of subscription streams equivalent units.