According to its research, online sales of music singles increased by 92% between 2007 and 2009, reaching 98% of all singles sold.

The volume of singles sales has also grown, from 87m in 2007 to 153m in 2009. This has been to the detriment of album sales, however, sales of which fell 7% from 145m to 135m.

Online also accounts for a minority of album sales, at 12%. However, sales of physical albums saw the fastest to decline: 14% over the two years.

Jen Beaumont, ONS social trends editor, said, “These figures show that downloading is now overwhelmingly the most popular way for people to buy songs. However, when buying a whole album, they still prefer to purchase a physical product.”

The research also looked at books, of which almost 5% are now digital, reaching sales of over £150m in 2009.