2018 was a long, long year — for a lot of reasons. A lot of music was also released in those 12 months, including some truly global hits. IFPI, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, has just released their official list of the 10 biggest singles of 2018, and it’s quite an interesting look.
Coming in at #1 is “Havana” from Camila Cabello featuring Young Thug. Writes Official Charts, “In June 2018, Havana became the most-streamed song ever by a female artist on Spotify with 888 million streams and has now clocked up 2.6 billion streams worldwide across all providers.” That it also measures up as the biggest song globally in 2018 is no surprise.
“God’s Plan” by Drake was released January 19, 2018. (Remember what I said earlier about 2018 being a really, really long year? Yeah.) It’s no surprise either that this track makes it to the #2 spot, achieving global virality as well as meme status. 
Ed Sheeran scores the next two spots for “Shape Of You” and “Perfect,” both of which came out on his March 2017 album, Divide. Clearly, though, their popularity persisted throughout 2018.
The rest of the list hits popular tracks like “Despacito” and Post Malone’s “Psycho,” as well as Chinese artist Tia Ray for her track “Be Apart.”
The Chainsmokers and Marshmello are, unsurprisingly, the only two electronic artists who ended up on the list; however, both were for ostensibly non-electronic songs, “Something Just Like This” and “Happier,” respectively.
See the full top 10 list below!
Top 10 global digital singles of 2018
| Rank | Artist and song title | Global total converted track equivalent (m) |
| 1 | Camila Cabello (feat. Young Thug) – Havana | 19.0 |
| 2 | Drake – God’s Plan | 15.3 |
| 3 | Ed Sheeran – Shape Of You | 14.9 |
| 4 | Ed Sheeran – Perfect | 13.5 |
| 5 | Maroon 5 (feat. Cardi B) – Girls Like You | 11.9 |
| 6 | Luis Fonsi (feat. Daddy Yankee) – Despacito | 11.8 |
| 7 | Tia Ray – Be Apart | 10.9 |
| 8 | The Chainsmokers & Coldplay – Something Just Like This | 10.0 |
| 9 | Marshmello & Anne-Marie – FRIENDS | 9.6 |
| 10 | Post Malone (feat. Ty Dolla $ign) – Psycho | 9.2 |
The IFPI Global Digital Singles Chart includes sales of digitally downloaded singles and on-demand video and audio streams across the calendar year; using permanent download equivalent units to combine measurements of digital sales and streams.
via Official Charts | Photo via Rukes.com
