Mambo No. 5 the song debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Bob the Builder's second number-one single there after "Can We Fix It?". The song experienced major success in Australia and Ireland. In the former country, the song debuted at number three on the ARIA Singles Chart on 4 November 2001 and reached number two on 18 November, held off the top spot by Alien Ant Farm's cover of "Smooth Criminal". After staying at number two for another week, the song began to leave the chart, spending nine more weeks in the top 50. In Ireland, the song first
Lists of UK Singles Chart number ones roughly 150,000. During 1992, when few releases were reaching number one, sales of CD singles were low: songs needed to sell only 60-70,000 each week to remain at the top. In 2000, when turnover of number ones was high, tracks could often sell between 100,000 and 200,000 copies in a single week. By May 2007, a single needed to sell just 20,000 copies in order to reach number one. UK chart commentator James Masterton remarked in 2003: "When record sales are high, public interest in a song expires very quickly and this creates a need for ever more new product