Circle Chart's 2024 year-end data shows K-pop album sales declined for the first time in 10 years

For the first time in ten years, K-pop album sales have experienced a decline compared to the previous year, with 2024 marking a 19.5% drop in cumulative physical album sales compared to 2023.

Circle Chart recently released its annual year-end data analyzing the album and chart sales. Based on data from Week 1 to Week 50 of 2024, the figures show a shift in the dynamics of the K-pop industry, particularly affecting male artists.

From Week 1 to Week 50 in 2024, cumulative album sales for the top 400 rankings dropped by nearly 19.5% year-over-year. This decrease highlights a sharp contrast to the consistent growth observed over the past decade.

The decline was especially evident among male artists. SEVENTEEN, for example, led the rankings with approximately 8.9 million copies sold in 2024 but still recorded a significant drop of 7.1 million copies compared to 2023 as Seventeen sold a staggering 16 million albums in 2023. Similarly, Stray Kids saw a reduction of around 5 million albums in 2024 compared to 2023.

In contrast, female artists showed a smaller decrease in overall sales, with notable performances by groups like NewJeans, (G)I-DLE, and aespa, who collectively dominated the top ranks.

The gender distribution of cumulative album sales in 2024 revealed a shift toward increased female artist representation. Male artists accounted for 71.0% of album sales, down 3.9 percentage points from 2023, while female artists accounted for 28.9%, a 4.1 percentage point increase.

NewJeans led the female category with an 11.4% share of cumulative sales, followed by (G)I-DLE at 10.5% and aespa at 9.9%. While these groups maintained strong positions, their market shares fell compared to 2023, when NewJeans held a 15.4% share, IVE had 13.4%, and aespa had 12.1%.

For male artists, SEVENTEEN’s share was 13.6%, followed by Stray Kids (8.9%) and ENHYPEN (8.3%). These figures mark a decline for Seventeen from the previous year, where SEVENTEEN led with 18.6%, Stray Kids with 12.6%, and TXT with 7.5%.

2024 also saw a drop in the number of albums that sold over 1 million copies. From Week 1 to Week 50 of 2024, only 20 albums sold over 1 million copies, down from 33 during the same period in 2023. Additionally, the number of artists with over 1 million cumulative sales decreased to 24, compared to 26 last year.

The decline was especially stark among male artists, with their numbers dropping from 17 teams in 2023 to 14 in 2024. Female artists, on the other hand, increased slightly, from 9 teams in 2023 to 10 in 2024. Despite this, overall female artist sales still saw a smaller decline of approximately 1.7 million copies (-6.1%) compared to the massive 20 million copy drop (-23.8%) for male artists.