Sales of K-pop albums have once again reached an all-time-high in the first half of this year, a local market tracker said.

According to Kim Jin-woo, head researcher of Circle Chart, which reports accumulated sales and streams, combined sales of the nation‘s top 400 physical albums have risen to 34.9 million copies in the first half of 2022, up 34.6 percent from a year ago. It was the highest first-half sales figure of all time.

First-half sales of physical albums have risen from 10.48 million in 2018 to 12.93 million in 2019 and steeply after the COVID-19 pandemic began - to 18.36 million in 2020 and to 25.96 million last year. 

By artist, BTS topped the list in the number of albums sold in the first half of this year with 4.52 million copies. (Yonhap)