 According to Nielsen SoundScan , In the Zone sold 609 @,@ 000 during its first week of availability in the United States , debuting at the top of the Billboard 200 . The album had the second highest debut sales of 2003 by a female artist ( only behind Alicia Keys 's The Diary of Alicia Keys ) , as well as the fifth highest debut sales of the year . Spears also became the first female artist in Billboard 's history to have four consecutive number @-@ one albums . By its third week , In the Zone had already sold 1 million copies in the country . The album was certified two @-@ times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America ( RIAA ) on December 16 , 2003 , for shipments of 2 million copies in the United States . It has sold over 3 @,@ 000 @,@ 000 copies there according to Nielsen SoundScan . In Canada , the album debuted at number two in the Canadian Albums Chart with sales of 31 @,@ 000 units . It was certified three @-@ times platinum by the Canadian Recording Industry Association ( CRIA ) for shipments of 300 @,@ 000 copies . 
