The European Top 100 Albums chart is the European adaptation of the Billboard 200 albums chart. It was created in March 1984.
The European Top 100 Albums, commonly referred to as Eurochart Top 100 Albums shows the sales of an act in 19 European countries based on IFPI data.
The European Top 100 compiles album sales (both retail and digital) of new and older albums, until the issue dated to December 5, it was different from The U.S. Billboard 200, on which albums would only be allowed to chart if they weren't 18 months old, if an album older than 18 months had enough sales to go on the 200 chart and therefore had already dropped out of the 100th position, it would chart on the The U.S. Billboard Catalog Albums. Now, Billboard reviewed the criteria and decided the older albums would also be allowed to chart in the 200, as it should show what's being sold, giving both charts, the Euro and The US 200, the same charting rules.
The chart update and issue dating follow the same rules as the Billboard 200: sales tracking week begins on Monday and ends on Sunday. A new chart is published the following Thursday with an issue date of the following Saturday.
The first Eurochart number one album was Thriller by Michael Jackson. The current number one album as of December 11, 2010 is Progress by Take That. The chart has been on a hiatus since December 11, 2010, following the news of Billboard closing their London office and letting their UK-based staff go.[1]