Adele’s 30 has shot to number one, overtaking Abba to become the fastest-selling album of the year so far.

Its 261,000 first-week chart sales mean it sped past the Swedish pop group’s comeback album Voyage, which opened with 204,000 sales.

However, Adele’s sales figures are significantly lower than those of her previous album 25, released in 2015.

That album, her third, opened with 800,000 first-week sales, which means 30 has sold 32% of its predecessor.

The drop can be partially explained by the huge growth of streaming in the last six years. Added to which, there was a greater incentive for fans to buy 25, as it was kept off streaming platforms for its first six months of release.

The album made up 67% of all physical sales and became the most-streamed album of the week, with 55.7 million plays across all tracks.

The numbers mark the biggest first week for an album since Sheeran’s ÷ (Divide) in 2017.

It is also strongest opening week for a female solo album since Adele’s last studio album 25, which was released in November 2015.

The London-born star has said that 30 is an attempt to explain her divorce from her husband to nine-year-old son Angelo.

The BBC’s review said it finds an “emotionally bewildered” Adele “at the top of her game”.

In the singles rundown, Adele’s chart domination means her biggest competition remains… herself.

The singer’s 101,000 chart sales and 11.5 million streams of Easy On Me beat out her two other tracks from 30 – Oh My God, which claims the week’s highest new entry at number two, and I Drink Wine at number four.

Easy On Me is now Adele’s longest-running chart-topper, outstripping Someone Like You.

Her closest competition in the singles chart, Sheeran, slipped to third with Shiver, while Bad Habits spent its 22nd week in the top 10 at number five.

This week’s biggest chart jump comes courtesy of 17-year-old Nashville pop prodigy Gayle, whose track ABCDEFU rises 26 positions to number 14.