User:03md/List of UK top 40 singles in 2016

See also: Lists of UK top 10 singles and Lists of UK top 40 singles

The UK Singles Chart is one of many music charts compiled by the Official Charts Company that calculates the best-selling singles of the week in the United Kingdom. Since 2004 the chart has been based on the sales of both physical singles and digital downloads, with airplay figures excluded from the official chart. Since 2014, the singles chart has been based on both sales and streaming. The day that the chart was announced was changed from Sunday to Friday in July 2015.

This list shows singles that peaked in the Top 40 of the UK Singles Chart during 2016, as well as songs which peaked in 2015 and 2017 but were in the top 40 in 2016. The entry date is when the song appeared in the top 40 for the first time (week ending, as published by the Official Charts Company, which is six days after the chart is announced).

Two-hundred and twenty-nine singles were in the top forty this year. Forty-two singles from 2015 remained in the top 40 for several weeks at the beginning of the year, or re-entered during the year. "Hair" by Little Mix featuring Sean Paul, "Eyes Shut" by Years & Years, "When We Were Young" by Adele, "Love Me Like You" by Little Mix, "The Girl Is Mine", "Sugar" by Robin Schulz, "Stitches" by Shawn Mendes, "History" by One Direction and "Light It Up" by Major Lazer featuring Nyla & Fuse ODG all first charted in 2015 but reached their peak in 2016. "Chandelier" by Sia also entered the chart for the first time in 2014.

"Love My Life" by Robbie Williams, "On Hold" by The XX, "You Want Me" by Tom Zanetti featuring Sadie Ama, "Love Me Now" by John Legend, "After the Afterparty" by Charli XCX, "I Would Like" by Zara Larsson, "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" by Michael Bublé and "I Don't Wanna Live Forever" by ZAYN featuring Taylor Swift all charted in 2016 but reached their peak in 2017.

Fifty-seven artists had multiple entries in the top forty in 2016, with Drake and The Weeknd having the joint most entries (9). Songs that reached the top ten this year are featured here but also included in their own article.

Top-forty singles

 * Key

Entries by artist
The following table shows artists who achieved three or more top 40 entries in 2016, including songs that reached their peak in 2015 or 2017. The figures include both main artists and featured artists, while appearances on ensemble charity records are also counted for each artist.

Re-entries
This table shows singles that started a new chart run in 2016 having previously reached the top 40. The total number of weeks in the top 40 and re-entry dates are correct as of 29 December 2016 and does not include any weeks a song returned to the chart in subsequent years. The number of weeks next to the re-entry date may not be at the same position (i.e. a song could have risen or fallen from this placing).