UK record sales for 2008

After the US numbers, here are the UK sales for 2008 as reported by Billboard:

Album sales (physical & digital): 133.6 million, -3.2% compared to 2007.

Digital album sales: 10.3 million, +65% compared to 2007. They account for 7.7% of the album market.

Single sales (physical & digital): 115.1 million, +33% compared to 2007.

Single sales (physical): 4.8 million, -43.5% compared to 2007.

Compared to the US, adoption of digital music in the UK is not as widespread. However, a number of factors will certainly help close the gap:

• growth rates are higher,
  
• new digital offers are available (notably from Amazon UK),
• physical distribution options are dwindling, as retailers either go bankrupt or decide to stop selling CDs