The commercial success of "Spice" was unprecedented and drew comparisons to Beatlemania (it was dubbed "Spicemania") due to the sheer volume of interest in the group. The album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart with first-sales of 114,000 copies, spending 15 non-consecutive weeks atop the chart. The album was certified 10-times Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) on 1 August 1997, and as of October 2019, it had sold 2,984,879 copies in the United Kingdom. In Europe, the album became the biggest-selling album of 1997 and was certified eight-times Platinum by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) for sales in excess of eight million copies. The album reached number one in France and was certified Diamond by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (SNEP), triple Gold in Germany by the Bundesverband Musikindustrie (BVMI), and 10-times Platinum in Spain for one million copies sold. The album also made a huge impact in Asian countries, selling two million copies in Japan and Southeast Asia by 1997, peaking at number seven in Japan and certified four-times Platinum, with sales of 718,432 copies by March 1997.