High street chain Woolworths has decided to stop stocking CD singles due to declining sales.

The UK's biggest retailer of singles attribute the death of the format to the rise in downloading. Industry figures show that sales of CD singles have plunged by a third this year compared with 2007 and the market is less than a sixth of the size it was eight years ago.



Eight million CD singles were bought in the UK last year, a fraction of the sales seen at the height of the physical single's popularity in 1999, when a record 78 million CD, tape and vinyl singles were sold.



Jim Batchelor, Woolworths' commercial director, said: 'Digital downloading is now the true customer choice for listening and purchasing single music tracks.



CDs are alive and well for album sales, but unfortunately the physical singles market is in terminal decline.'



However, the store will continue to stock high profile singles, such as those released by the winners of television talent competitions like 'X Factor', which still sell hundereds of thousands of copies.



The move will take place in August, and Woolworths have expanded their online store to sell downloads as a result.