List of UK singles chart Christmas number ones

"Christmas number one" redirects here. For the similar competition in Ireland, see List of Irish Singles Chart Christmas number ones.
A black and white photograph of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley of the group Wham!
Wham!'s "Last Christmas", originally released in 1984, is the most-recent Christmas number one

In the United Kingdom, Christmas number ones are singles that top the UK Singles Chart in the week in which Christmas Day falls.[nb 1] The singles have often been novelty songs, charity songs or songs with a Christmas theme. Historically, the volume of record sales in the UK has peaked at Christmas.[1]

The Christmas number one is considered especially prestigious, more so than any other time of year.[2][3] Christmas number-one singles have often also been the best-selling song of the year, though in recent years they have been released by reality television contestants and charity efforts. Due to the common practice of dating a chart by the date on which the week ends, the Christmas chart is dated the end of the week containing 25 December. The most recent Christmas number one single is "Last Christmas" by Wham!.[4]


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  1. ^ Douglas, Jayne (23 December 2001). "Have a chart-topping Christmas". BBC News. Archived from the original on 22 October 2009. Retrieved 7 March 2011.
  2. ^ Meighan, Nicola (2004). "Why do we still love Christmas number ones?". BBC. Archived from the original on 12 May 2017. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
  3. ^ "Sound of silence vies to be Christmas number one". The Daily Telegraph. 16 October 2010. Archived from the original on 19 October 2010. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
  4. ^ Beaumont-Thomas, Ben (22 December 2023). "Wham!'s Last Christmas finally reaches Christmas No 1, 39 years after release". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 22 December 2023. Retrieved 22 December 2023.