Physical album sales of K-pop this year are close to reaching a record 80 million copies thanks to the strong performance of boy band BTS and popular girl groups.

According to Circle Chart, annual physical sales of the top 400 K-pop albums stood at 74-point-two million as of December 10, up nearly 30 percent on-year.

BTS sold over six million copies during the cited period to rank first, followed by Stray Kids at five-point-eight million and Seventeen at five-point-four million.

A sharp increase in sales of girl group albums also drove up overall sales.

Female singers accounted for over 32 percent of total sales this year, up 16-point-five percentage points from last year.

Blackpink topped the list for girl groups with two-point-eight million albums, followed by IVE at two-point-six million and Red Velvet at two-point-one million. 

The number of boy bands who sold more than a million copies this year fell from 12 to eleven, while the number of girl groups shot from one to ten.