Monthly sales of K-pop albums surpassed ten million copies for the first time in July thanks to the expanding global fandom of Korean idol groups.

According to head researcher Kim Jin-woo of Circle Chart, which reports accumulated sales and streams, the combined sales of the nation's top 400 physical albums came to ten million-827-thousand-324 copies in July, up 40-point-two percent from a month earlier.

It marks the first time monthly sales have exceeded ten million since the chart began compiling data in 2010, and represents a 116-point-eight percent increase from a year ago.

Girl group aespa's second mini album “Girls” took the top place with one-point-64 million copies sold last month.

Boy group Enhypen's “Manifesto: Day 1” came in second with one-point-four million copies sold, while “Sector 17” by boy group Seventeen ranked third at one-point-34 million copies.

The cumulative sales for the first seven months of the year came to 46 million copies, up 15 million from a year earlier. Kim partially attributed the increase to the purchase of older albums by foreign fans seeking to catch up on back catalogues.