Ed Sheeran has the biggest selling album of the year so far. A list of the most successful albums of 2014 has been compiled and released by the Official Charts Company, which is topped by the distinctive singer-songwriter’s second album X.

Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran has the biggest selling album of 2014 so far with X

It’s little surprise that it should be top of the pile, having spent a staggering nine weeks at the top of the UK albums chart from May to July and racking up 634,000 sales in all. It contains the chart-topping single ‘Sing’, and is also the fastest seller of the year, racking up 182,000 sales in its first week.

Reacting to the news, Sheeran told the Official Charts Company: "I’m so happy people have been enjoying my album so much – great to hear that it’s still the biggest seller of the year and has now gone double Platinum too. Looking forward to playing it live to my UK fans when the tour starts next week!"

With less than three months to go in 2014, it’s very likely that X will still be top of the list by the end of the year. However, November and December frequently see the release of albums by high-profile artists looking to capitalise on the run-up to Christmas. One Direction release their new album Four on November 17th, which is perhaps the only realistic contender to displace Sheeran.

More: Ed Sheeran records more songs with Taylor Swift, dedicates song to David Cameron.

Elsewhere on the list, it’s notable that nine of the top 10 albums are by British artists, with Sam Smith (487,000) and Coldplay (470,000) following behind Sheeran in second and third respectively. Pharrell Williams is the only international artist, with his album Girl in seventh. It certainly paints a picture of a British music industry in very rude health.