This page shows the
best-selling Christmas albums in the United States. It includes artists from all over the world, but it only includes sales in the
United States of America.
Prior to March 1, 1991, the only means of tracking sales figures for record albums and singles in the United States was via the certification system of the
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), based specifically on shipments (less potential returns) on a long-term basis. According to the most recent record album certifications, the holiday album title that has shipped the most copies in the United States is
Elvis Presley's 1957 LP
Elvis' Christmas Album, which is certified by the RIAA for shipment of 13 million copies in the U.S. (three million copies of the original 1957 release on
RCA Victor Records, plus ten million copies of a "budget" edition first released by
RCA Camden in 1970 and then by
Pickwick Records in 1975).
From March 1, 1991, through the present day, the
Nielsen SoundScan tracking system has been more widely used to accurately track sales of record albums and singles at the
point of sale (POS) based on inventory bar code scans.