The figures are up and it's now been revealed that 2013's biggest selling album in the UK was Midnight Memories by the world's biggest boyband One Direction.

One DirectionOne Direction - 2013's Biggest Sellers!

Though it's not surprising that the fetching fivesome have landed the victory with their new album presenting their third consecutive number one, they were in for some strong competition with the likes of Emeli Sande's Our Version Of Events coming in at number 2, despite it landing her the top spot in 2012 and thus launching her music career.

Midnight Memories has sold 685,000 copies since its release in November 2013 according to Official Charts and also became the year's fastest seller with 237,000 sold in the opening week. However, it's not all good news as, in spite of their victory, 2013 has become the first year not to see a million-selling record in the UK for 20 years.

Watch the video for 'Midnight Memories' single 'Story of My Life':

We initially thought it was a good year for music here at Contactmusic.com, with both superstars and emerging musicians giving us lots of listening pleasure as we detailed in our Top 20 feature. But it seems that the rise in the use of streaming services such as Spotify has caused a depletion  in sales coupled with, no doubt, the ever rising threat of illegal downloading.

On the other hand, it has only been a matter of weeks since 1D's latest release and 2014 will no doubt see them hit the million mark - though they'll still be facing plenty more competition, primarily in the shape of Beyonce's self-titled visual album.

Read our review of One Direction's 'Midnight Memories' here

One Direction at the 2013 American Music Awards
One Direction came out on top in 2013