UK vinyl sales surpassed 1 million units in early 2021

Continuing an upward trend from 2020.

UK vinyl sales surpassed 1 million during the first three months of 2021, according to data from the Official Charts Company.

Vinyl sales were up 16.1% compared to the first three months of 2020, with a total of 1,080,653 records sold.

With the UK’s third national lockdown having started in early January, the increase in sales relates to a wider trend from 2020 that saw both new and second-hand vinyl sales increase during lockdowns. Discogs reported a strong jump in sales during the first lockdown in March 2020.

The numbers also reflect a more general increase of vinyl sales, with UK sales reaching a record high of 4.8 million records sold during 2020 — all of which bolsters the British Phonographic Industry prediction that record labels will earn more from the sales of vinyl than CDs in 2021 for the first time since 1987.

The re-opening of non-essential shops on the 12th April also seems likely to have an impact on this year’s vinyl sales, with HMV recording over twice the number of visitors on its re-opening weekend compared to the weekend after the lifting of the first lockdown in 2020, as The Guardian reports.