Madonna has been named as the biggest-selling female singles artist in UK chart history.

New data from the Official Charts Company shows that the ‘MDNA’ singer, often dubbed as the Queen Of Pop, has shifted over 17.8 million singles in the UK since releasing her first track, ‘Holiday’, in 1984. She claimed her first UK Number One single with ‘Into The Groove’ the following year, while her last chart-topping track was ‘4 Minutes’, her collaboration with Justin Timberlake which featured on her 2008 LP ‘Hard Candy’.

However, the iconic singer faces stiff competition from Rihanna, who has sold 11.4 million singles in the UK in just seven years – and, if she continues to sell records at the same rate, could feasibly overtake Madonna in the next two and a half years. Earlier this month (October 7), her track ‘Diamonds’ – the lead single from her forthcoming new album ‘Unapologetic’ – entered the UK Official Singles Chart at Number One.

Elsewhere, Kylie Minogue is the third best-selling female singles artist of all time, having sold 10.2 million records in her 25-year career, while the late Whitney Houston is fourth with 8.5 million sales and Lady Gaga is fifth with 7.329 million. [NME]

The Official Biggest Selling Female Singles Artists of All Time are as follows:

1. Madonna (17.8m)
2. Rihanna (11.4m)
3. Kylie Minogue (10.2m)
4. Whitney Houston (8.5m)
5. Lady Gaga (7.329m)
6. Britney Spears (7.324m)
7. Beyoncé (6.9m)
8. Celine Dion (6.7m)
9. Mariah Carey (6.62m)
10. Olivia Newton John (6.61m)