Uke sales figures

I have a good friend who is in the music business and has sold organs and other electronic keyboards for many years. He mentioned to me that ukuleles were the top selling instrument in the US last year. Does anyone know if that's the case or is his info incorrect? He said that the info came out of NAMM stats. Maybe some of the folks in retail on the forum can confirm or correct.

It wouldn't surprise me in the least...see how many dealers/builders there are now?
How many people do you know who have taken up the uke in the last year, VS other instruments?

So much for the ukulele boom going bust!

It would be very interesting to confirm if that is indeed fact.

Tailgate said:

I have a good friend who is in the music business and has sold organs and other electronic keyboards for many years. He mentioned to me that ukuleles were the top selling instrument in the US last year. Does anyone know if that's the case or is his info incorrect? He said that the info came out of NAMM stats. Maybe some of the folks in retail on the forum can confirm or correct.

Click to expand...

If they are counting the ones made(in China) and sold all over the world..no instrument is close..some factories build and send out 25,000 a month..I was told by someone who in the business also..

so going by others info..take it with a grain of salt..

I think with the uke, they are so collectable. Different sized, different tunings, different tonewoods, different makes, different feels. And they can relatively inexpensive for a still-decent instrument. So I think take into account the popularity and the fact that people buy more than one... I would not doubt it. Like, if you are buying a trumpet, you are buying one trumpet. If you are buying drums, you buy one set, not multiple sets. Same with guitars. They are in comparison more expensive, so people financially cant acquire as many as they would a uke.

So... in a way... it makes sense to me. Even the casual uke player often has more than one uke. A casual guitar player usually has one guitar.

I would hope the stat is correct. Just because the uke is so happy... nice to think more people are playing a happy instrument

That's only in units, not dollars, and only if you split acoustic and electric guitars in the US. That's also sales to dealers, not customers. It has continued to rise, but the percentage of manufacturers and sellers to customer base has risen at an even higher rate.