British songstress Adele's 21 has become the biggest selling digital album of all time in the US.

The "Rolling in the Deep" hitmaker took the title from Eminem's Recovery record by selling 1.017 million digital copies of her LP in the country compared to the rapper's 1.005 million sales of his seventh studio album. Keith Caulfield, Billboard's associate director of charts/retail, said the 23-year-old British singer is "not just a digital phenomenon. She appeals to older consumers, who will still buy full albums, and to younger people who may just buy a single track."

According to figures from Nielsen SoundScan, digital sales make up more than 30 per cent of the purchases of 21, which was released in the US in February.