Ed Sheeran is the best selling recording artist of 2017

The singer-songwriter’s 2017 album Divide has been classified multi-platinum in 32 markets, according to the International Federation Of The Phonographic Industry (IFPI), which gave him the accolade.

The 27-year-old is the only British musician in the top 10 compiled by the international music trade body, which says it looks at “an artist’s worldwide success across digital and physical music formats, from streams to vinyl”.

Sheeran, who previous hits include One, has enjoyed a perfect double of having the best-selling album and single of the year, for Divide and The Shape Of You.

Calling 2017’s list a “who’s who’ of popular music,” IFPI chief executive Frances Moore, said: “The success Ed has achieved is astonishing and testament to his ability to write and perform songs that connect with a truly global fanbase.”

The singer, who became engaged to his long-time girlfriend Cherry Seaborn in January, has since denied that they had got married in secret, including at last week’s Brits awards, where, fittingly, he took the Global Success award.

Second place went to Canadian-born rapper Drake, whose album More Life was streamed more than a billion times.