London (AFP) - Canadian rapper Drake was the best-selling recording artist of 2016, beating the late rock icon David Bowie to the top spot, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry said on Wednesday (Feb 8).

Drake scored worldwide success with his fourth album Views, an ode to his native city of Toronto.

The bestseller in 2015 was British singer Adele.

"Views became the first album to reach one billion streams on Apple Music, while One Dance, the album's second single, was the first song to be played one billion times on Spotify," IFPI said in a statement.

Bowie, who released his final album, Blackstar, two days before he died in January 2016, came second.

His album topped the charts in 24 countries, IFPI said.

Coldplay came third, followed by Adele, Justin Bieber, Twenty One Pilots, Beyonce, Rihanna, Prince and The Weeknd.

IFPI, which is based in London, compiles its rankings by measuring sales of physical and digital forms, including downloads and streams.