K-pop had 19 of the world's top 20 bestselling albums last year. Shown is the Global Album Sales Charts released on March 28 by the U.K.-based International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) on its official website. (IFPI's official website)

By Choi Jin-woo

K-pop had all but one of the world's top 20 bestselling albums last year.

The U.S. business magazine Forbes on March 27 said the genre occupied 19 of the top 20 spots on the Global Album Sales Charts of the U.K.-based International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI).

Boy band SEVENTEEN's "FML" was No. 1 with sales of 6.4 million copies, followed by Stray Kids' "5-Star" in second and NCT Dream's "ISTJ" third.

SEVENTEEN also held No. 4 with "Seventeenth Heaven" and Stray Kids followed at No. 5 with "Rock-Star."

The lone non-K-pop entry in the top 20 was "1989 (Taylor's Version)" by American superstar Taylor Swift at No. 6.

BTS member Jungkook's "Golden" was seventh, EXO's "Exist" eighth, IVE's "I've Mine" ninth and BTS member V's "Layover" 10th.

The remainder of the chart comprised ZEROBASEONE's "Youth In The Shade" (11th), aespa's "My World" (12th), TOMORROW X TOGETHER's "The Name Chapter: Freefall" (13th), (G)I-DLE's "I Feel" (14th), NCT 127's "Fact Check" (15th), ENHYPEN's "Dark Blood" (16th), IVE's "I've IVE" (17th), BTS member Jimin's "Face" (18th), ENHYPEN's "Orange Blood" (19th) and aespa's "Drama" (20th).

"It's no secret that albums from some of the biggest names in K-pop sell incredibly well these days," Forbes said. "Stars from South Korea regularly rank among the bestselling in the world, and this trend is only growing as time goes by. While the genre has been surging for many years, the style's performance in 2023 is truly astounding."

IFPI's Global Album Sales Charts rank albums based on the combined worldwide sales of physical formats and digital music downloads.

paramt@korea.kr