Leading girl group albums in South Korea 2023
In 2023, the best-selling girl group album in South Korea was “My World” by aespa, with approximately 2.1 million copies sold. The group, alongside fellow rookies IVE and NewJeans, scored multiple entries that year.
The gap between girl and boy groups
aespa is a girl group under S.M. Entertainment consisting of four members. They made their debut in 2020 and have since achieved considerable success in the K-pop industry. This is evident in aespa’s domestic album sales, which surpassed three million copies in 2023. While girl groups typically dominated the digital singles charts, boy groups consistently secured higher rankings in physical album sales, as observed in the worldwide physical music album sales. Notably, aespa's album secured the ninth position, with the remaining spots occupied by various boy groups.
K-Pop fan activities
The sales of physical albums in South Korea have witnessed a remarkable surge over the past decade, surpassing 115 million music albums in 2023. The trend of purchasing physical copies of albums has gained widespread popularity among K-pop enthusiasts, largely due to unique packaging, captivating photo albums, and other freebies. On average, fans spend about seven dollars per month on K-pop. Apart from the physical album experience, K-pop fans are actively engaged in various other activities. Alongside streaming music from their favorite idols, fans are watching K-pop related videos as many idols are now consistently sharing content on platforms like YouTube.
