The figures were released by Nielsen SoundScan on Tuesday.
Only Lady Gaga sold more this year. Her "Born This Way" hit No. 1 with 1.1 million sold thanks in part to a one-day offer from Amazon.com to buy the album for 99 cents.
Lil Wayne just barely missed his own sales record. "Tha Carter III" sold just over 1 million when it was released in 2008.
Lil Wayne made "Tha Carter IV" available for digital download immediately after an appearance on the MTV Video Music Awards, and released a physical CD two days later.
