Oscar-winning singer Adele's album '21' has topped the global albums chart for a second consecutive year.
The album, released in January 2011, sold 8.3 million copies last year, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) said, reported BBC online.
Overall music revenues were up 0.3 per cent to USD 16.5bn - the first year of industry growth since 1999.
Paul Williams, the head of business analysis at Music Week, said the rise was "very significant".
"After many, many years of decline the graph is finally heading northwards again.
"It underlines the efforts the music industry has been putting in and the results it's now getting in reinventing itself in the digital era," he said.
Carly Rae Jepsen's hit 'Call Me Maybe' was the best-selling single of 2012, with 12.5 million units sold globally.
