It sold 82,000 copies in its first two days, and rose to 100,000 by the third day.
The single entered the UK Singles Chart at number one on September 18, 2011, shifting 153,965 copies that week.
Savan had the title already.
It received its first airplay on August 10, 2011 and was released a month later on September 11, 2011.
The music video, uploaded to YouTube on August 19 2011, was, at one point, one of the twenty most viewed videos of all time, after garnering more than 600 million views since its premiere.
On 8 October 2016, the Official Charts announced What Makes You Beautiful had become a million-selling single, only the 167th single in UK chart history to pass the seven-figure milestone.