We knew Adele was going to be the biggest selling artist of 2011 halfway through the year but just how big she was is staggering.

Adele '21' was the first album since 2004 to sell more than 5 million units. (In 2004 Usher 'Confessions' sold almost 8 million). '21' sold 5.8 million in the USA during 2011 according to Nielsen Soundscan.

Here are the Adele stats for 2011:

Best selling artist based on album sales ' 6.7 million
Best selling album (21) ' 5.8 million
Best selling physical album (21) ' 4 million
Best selling digital album (21) ' 1.8 million
Best selling digital album of all time (21) ' 1.8 million
Best selling internet album (21) ' 321,000
Best selling digital Song (Rolling In The Deep) ' 5.8 million
Best selling digital track (Rolling In The Deep) ' 5.7 million
Most played song on radio (Rolling In The Deep) ' 658,000 detections.

Justin Bieber was the second biggest selling artist of 2011 with 3,393,000 sales.

The top 10 selling artists of 2011 were:

1. Adele ' 6,744,000
2. Justin Bieber ' 3,393,000
3. Michael Buble ' 2,985,000
4. Lady Gaga ' 2,828,000
5. Lil Wayne ' 2,651,000
6. Lady Antebellum ' 2,180,000
7. Glee Cast ' 2,104,000
8. Jason Aldean ' 1,884,000
9. Taylor Swift ' 1,847,000
10. Drake ' 1,591,000