Britney (album) - Chart Performance

Chart Performance

Britney debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 album charts selling over 746,000 copies in its first week, replacing Michael Jackson's Invincible. Britney entered the Canadian Albums Chart at number one on sales of 44,550 copies, well ahead of the second-place debut by Pink Floyd's Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd which sold 28,894 copies. The following week in the U.S albums chart, Britney moved to number two after a 55% sales decline, selling 337,000 units. In the album's third week of release, its sales increased by 34% to 451,000 because of the holiday season, though it dropped to number three on the Billboard 200 behind two new entries. On its fourth week, the album moves 5-4 on a 17% sales increase, selling more than 264,000 copies and cracked the 2 million mark. It was followed by a beneficiary of a 13% sales boost, and ups the album one slot to number-three Enya's A Day Without Rain, on sales of almost 300,000 copies. Due in part to an increased exposure from her film debut, Crossroads and with the help of her "Dream Within a Dream Tour" the album peaked number-fourteen on the Billboard 200, and had been continued moving back up the chart from number-fourteen to number-nine, and just giving the album a total of 3.3 million units in the US on 2002, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

The album's number-one debut on the Billboard 200 made Spears the only female artist in SoundScan history to have their first three albums debut at number one, garnering her the top slot on the week's chart, as well as the honor of having the second biggest debut of the year – behind NSYNC's Celebrity, which moved 1.88 million copies in its first week – according to Nielsen SoundScan figures released on November 14. Britney is, however, 2001's most successful debut by a female or females, trumping Destiny's Child's Survivor which sold 663,000 copies in its first week and Janet Jackson's All For You which sold 605,000.

In Japan, the album debuted at number four on the Oricon charts, selling 66,900 units during its first week. Britney has since sold 250,000 copies to date and earned Platinum certification there. It has also been certified two times Platinum in Australia, where it reached a peak of number four. In the UK, it debuted at number four and has been certified Platinum for shipping 300,000 copies to retailers. The album spent thirty-six weeks on the UK Albums Chart. To date, Britney sold a total of 316,944 copies in Canada which considerably a big decline from her previous albums. In 2002, Britney was certified two times Platinum by the IFPI for shipments of two million copies inside Europe. It debuted at number two in France, where it has since sold over 425,000 copies. "Britney" sold 15 million records worldwide and 5 million records in US.